Mario and Luigi: Magic of Mirrors
by RonnyBravo the Breadghost
Summary: A peaceful Toad Town day is suddenly jilted by an attack by strange shadowy creatures that kidnap many of the town's residents. A young Toad then states that the primary source of these shadowy creatures is mirrors. Mario and Luigi are thus sent on their next adventure through a mirror to uncover the dark secrets behind this event. Explains things from Mage of Thunder throughout.
1. Attack of the Shadows

Chapter 1: Attack of the Shadows

A scream ripped through the air from within a house in Toad Town. That one scream threw the whole town into chaos. What had begun as a peaceful day had just gone awry. After that one scream, several more erupted from households all over town. They had a good reason. As panic swept over the people of Toad Town, so did strange shadowy creatures that had appeared from what seemed to be nowhere. Toads rushed around in fright, some of them captured by these shadowy creatures, and others running for dear life.

One young Toad was hiding behind a small house. This Toad had the normal palette, red dots and a blue vest. He shook violently in fear of these shadows that were attacking the town. One turned the corner. He screamed and tried to run. He ran into another. Yet another trapped him from the front. He was trapped against the wall of the building, three shadowy creatures with undefined black shape aside from outstretched black arms and glowing red eyes, coming right at him. He covered his face.

Then there was a blast of light. His eyes shot open. A ring of fire surrounded him, giving him three foot leeway. Through the flames, he could see a human-like figure shooing off the shadowy creatures with fireballs. Two had left the scene. One still resisted. Then, the ring of fire around the Toad was pulled off of the ground and into the hand of the figure. To the Toad was revealed a man in red overalls, a white shirt, and a white cap. The man flung the fireball at the feet of the shadowy creature. The creature fled.

He turned around, revealing a red 'M' on his cap, ran towards the Toad, and picked him up. Then he ran around the corner. He was met by another hoard of shadowy creatures. He summoned another fireball and sent it flying at the ground. When only a few of the creatures ran off, he pulled the fire from around the corner and fired it right at the creatures. The fled immediately. The man ran again. The Toad, despite being in the arms of this savior, was still terrified. He had watched them take his family away. It didn't make sense to him the way they did it. They just began to pick them up; his father, his mother, his sisters… they grabbed all of them and dragged them into…

The man fired another blast of fire at another hoard of the creatures. The creatures ran off just as the others had. He heard the man growl a little. That could only mean something was going wrong. The man ran across a crossroads. He stopped next to another man who wore green overalls, a white shirt, and a white cap. On this white cap was a green 'L'.

"I need you to take this kid to the castle," said the man who had been carrying him.

"But Mario, it's just as dangerous there…" said the other man.

"It's our only choice Luigi," said Mario, "We need to protect them." Luigi took the Toad from Mario.

"Alright," said Luigi. In the hands of a new hero, the Toad watched wide-eyed as Luigi jumped onto a roof nearby. He threw a weak fireball at a few shadowy creatures in his way. They continued at him right over the fire. The Toad could feel Luigi shaking.

"Please Mr. Luigi," he said softly, "Hurry." He buried his face in his hands. Luigi stopped shaking and jumped. The Toad felt heat build near his cap. The heat flew past him. He opened his eyes in time to see the fireball explode on the roof below. The shadowy creatures that had been on the roof glared at them from the ground far below. Luigi landed on the next roof on both feet. The bridge to the castle was about four roof jumps away. The Toad heard Luigi take a deep breath. Then he started running.

He hit the edge of the roof he was on and rocketed to the next one. He didn't slow down for the second jump. The third jump was the same. The last jump was interrupted by a shadowy creature and Luigi slid onto his back. The shadowy creature grabbed him by the leg. Another one tried to pry the Toad from his arms. Luigi jumped back into action. He blasted the shadowy creature trying to grab him with a fireball. It reeled backwards. He shot the other one in the "face" with a fireball. It let go of the Toad in his arms. He ran to the other end of the roof, sidestepping past the other shadowy creature and jumping off. From there he made a mad dash for the castle.

* * *

Luigi had to run through several groups of shadowy creatures on his way across the castle bridge. He jumped, ducked, sidestepped and rolled through every group he came past. The final group blockaded the entrance, however. Luigi thought quickly. A fireball appeared in his hand. The Toad watched as he set the ground in front of the shadowy creatures aflame. The shadowy creatures backed towards the castle and away from the fire. Luigi fired more fireballs to the sides. They began to back into each other. Luigi took a deep breath and charged. He pulled all of the fire back, plowed into the shadowy creatures, and shot the flames down the bridge. When the fire cleared, the shadowy creatures were moving back down the bridge frantically.

Luigi set down the Toad inside the castle courtyard.

"Stay here kiddo," he said. The Toad nodded and Luigi rushed back out the doors. The Toad watched him go. Then he stopped. The Toad couldn't tell why. Then he realized that Mario had met Luigi on the bridge. They both ran off into the town again. A few minutes later they returned with several Toads. All of the Toads ran into the castle gates frantically, bypassing the young Toad standing there as though he wasn't there. Mario and Luigi walked into the gate after them. They were discussing something.

"… weird isn't it?" Mario was saying.

"I know," said Luigi, "Why… I mean, how could they all just disappear like that?"

"Some of them were jumping off of the bridge," said Mario, "Do you think they were exterminating themselves?" They arrived at the castle gate and powered down. Their clothing turned to red hat and shirt with blue overalls and green hat and shirt with blue overalls respectively. They walked up to the Toad.

"You alright kid?" he asked, bending down to the Toad.

"I… I…" the Toad's small voice trailed off. He had seen too much to explain. Mario patted him on the head.

"Don't worry," he said, "Everything will be fine." He stood up.

"Come on Luigi," said Mario, "They're holding an emergency meeting. We need to put in our two coins." Luigi nodded. They both walked into the doors of the castle. The Toad stayed where he was for a few moments, not knowing what to do. Then he saw a single shadow moving along the wall of the castle courtyard above him. It appeared to be headed for the exit. The Toad ran for the castle doors as quickly as possible.

* * *

"This is a most trying matter indeed," said Princess Peach, "We have shadows appearing out of nowhere suddenly attacking our people. What are they and what does this all mean? We're here to answer these questions. So first we need to figure out what they are."

"That's an obvious answer," said a generic Toad from one side of the table, "They're shadowy creatures that are attacking us and they must be stopped."

"Yes, I'm sure we're all well aware of that generic Toad," said Peach, "Can we have a more… detailed description of them?"

"Shadowy blobs with arms?" someone else put in, "I don't know." There were small mumbles among those at the table, which included Princess Peach herself, a congregation of Toads, Toadsworth, Peach's guardian, Toadbert, a knowledgeable young Toad who knew a lot about the world, and the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi.

"Anyways," said the princess, "We should move on. Our next matter; where are they coming from?" No one spoke up on this question. Dead silence hovered over the room as those at the table looked between each other, shaking heads and shrugging shoulders.

"So no one saw where they came from?" Peach asked with a note of surprise in her voice.

"I did," said a small voice from the other side of the room. Everyone turned to the door. A small Toad with frightened eyes stood in the doorway.

"Hey, it's that kid you saved," Luigi whispered, nudging Mario's arm. The Toad walked into the room shyly.

"Don't be afraid child," said Peach gently, "Please join us." The Toad quickened his pace. He walked to Mario, who helped him up onto the meeting table.

"Now tell us," said Peach, "Where did they come from?" The Toad looked down at his feet. He shook a little. Then he raised his head the word came out.

"Mirrors." The word echoed through the room, as everyone repeated it silently. Then there was silence for a few moments. The whole congregation stared at him. The Toad backed away timidly. Tears began to drop from his eyes.

"They came so fast," he cried, "Out of the windows, the standing mirrors… anything that showed a reflection. Then they… they took everybody. My mama… my daddy… my little sisters… My daddy yelled at me to run and take my sisters with me, but the shadows got to them first. I ran. I escaped through an open window. Then… they started… started to…" He began to sob and fell face first onto the table, unable to continue. Mario picked him up and held him close.

"He's not lying," said Mario, "This can't be a façade." Princess Peach nodded her head.

"It is a most serious matter indeed," she said, "Is there anything else we need to know about the matter?"

"They seem to dislike being near fire," Luigi spoke up. No one paid him any mind as ideas were discussed around the table. He slumped back into his chair.

"Mirrors…" Toadbert repeated again, adjusting his glasses and silencing everyone, "Mirrors… why does that word sound so familiar?"

"It's a word in our language," someone spoke up.

"Yes, but… there is something significant about that word," said Toadbert, "I've heard it in connection to shadowy creatures before this." Everyone looked at him intently.

"I'll have to go back through my library," he said, "I remember something about those two being put in the same idea in a book I read." Everyone relaxed.

"Well then, are there any more ideas to put forth here?" Peach asked. She got nothing.

"Well then, this meeting is…" She was cut off by a cannon shell ripping through the roof of the castle. It slammed on one side of the meeting table. Two more slammed into the room, one blocking the entrance and the other slamming right into the center of the meeting table. All of the Toads were thrown into a panic. The one in Mario's arms kept sobbing into his overalls. Mario and Luigi looked up to the open sky, which was quickly being blotted out by the dark form of an airship.

"Hold the kid," said Mario, handing the young Toad off to Luigi, "I'll take care of this."

"Do you have a Fire Flower?" Luigi asked before he ran off. Mario stopped and turned around. Luigi pulled one out of his pocket and threw it over to his brother. Mario squeezed the stem and returned to his white cap, white shirt and red overalls form. He nodded at his brother and ran to the wall. He jumped at the last second and kicked off of it. He slammed his feet into an incoming shell from the airship and jumped off of it. He repeated the process with three more before he finally had enough air to reach the ship. He grabbed onto the edge and swung himself up, readying a fireball in case the enemy was waiting for him.

He looked around the airship. There was no one in sight. No minions, no commanders… not even Bowser himself, as Mario would have expected. He put up a second fireball just in case.

"Come out!" he yelled, "I know you're here somewhere!" A mess of paint suddenly flew at him from behind one of the masts. He was thrown to the deck, his fire extinguished, his body frozen in ice. A high voice laughed from behind the mast.

"Looking for me?" the voice cackled. A small, spiky shelled Koopa revealed himself from behind the mast. He wore a bib with a childishly drawn set of teeth on it and held a paintbrush in his right hand. Mario blasted through the ice that held him with fire and got more fire ready in his hands.

"Bowser Jr.," he said, "Why are you here? To kidnap the princess on orders of your father?"

"I may as well!" Bowser Jr. yelled at him, "To honor his sacrifice!" Mario let down his fire in surprise.

"Did you just say sacrifice?" Mario asked, a bit astonished. Bowser Jr. started to cry.

"Yes I did!" he cried, "You sent them to kidnap all of us at Koopa Castle! But I escaped, 'cause my father gave me keys to an airship before they took him away! I'm here to take revenge on you do-gooders for what you've done!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up," said Mario, "Who are 'them'?" Bowser Jr. twirled his paintbrush and threw red paint at him. Mario ducked out of the way. The deck of the airship caught fire when the paint made impact. Mario observed the damage before turning back to block more blue paint with fire. The paint vaporized in midair.

"Please Junior, just answer the question!" Mario pleaded as he ducked out of the way of another blob of red paint, "Who are 'them'?" A few more messy blobs of paint flew at him before Bowser Jr.'s crying overtook his ability to throw them. His paintbrush dropped from his hand and he fell bottom-first onto the deck which was now kindling with flame. Mario walked up to him and powered down.

"Please Junior," Mario said, putting a hand on Junior's shoulder, "Tell me. I'm listening. What happened?" Junior pushed Mario away. He started to sob.

"Shadowy creatures… came… and… took…" he couldn't finish through his sobs. Mario put a hand on Junior's shoulder again.

"I need you to land this thing somewhere," said Mario, "We need to talk more. I need you to explain exactly what happened." Junior looked up at him. His eyes were full of confusion.

"Junior," said Mario, taking a deep breath, "I think we share a common enemy."

* * *

**A/N: I have been holding this one off for waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. This is a story I came up with before I actually joined this site. It was originally a sequel to Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, but it has become something else entirely: a prequel setting up the version of the Mario universe that I wish to write about in fanfiction, one that is linked to all of the games and yet still has its own plotline. This timeline includes The Mage of Thunder, one of my previous projects, as well. Anyways, thanks for reading this first chapter. Please leave a review to tell me what you think. I do enjoy getting feedback on my work. :) **

**And now for your cliché disclaimer that really shouldn't be necessary because this is . I do not own Mario or any of its characters, ideas, and places. Everything except for what I obviously make up belongs to Nintendo. **


	2. The Other Side of the Mirror

Chapter 2: The Other Side of the Mirror

The airship burned up before it was parked. The flames from the paintbrush had gotten far too out of hand, to the point where Mario couldn't control them with his fire flower powers. They had enveloped the ship and it was falling through the air. Mario had to heft Bowser Jr. over the side and then jump off himself to escape. The airship crashed into a ravine nearby Toad Town. Bowser Jr. had landed on his bottom thankfully. Mario landed on his stomach. A whole gaggle of Toads had run out of the castle to make sure Mario was alright. There was a bit of a misunderstanding with Toadsworth at seeing Bowser Jr. being helped by Mario. The old Toad attempted to beat Bowser Jr. over the head with his cane, but Mario held him back. After all of that was settled, everyone returned to the castle.

A new meeting was held in the courtyard, because no one wanted to have a meeting in a destroyed meeting room. As soon as Bowser Jr. was all settled, the meeting began.

"Now Junior, I need you to explain to us what happened," said Peach. Junior looked about the audience nervously. Princess Peach caught the eyes of a few nerve-wracked Toads who clearly weren't interested in sitting around listening to a sworn enemy. They seemed to be backing away from the Koopaling. Princess Peach gave them a pleading look and they slowly and reluctantly returned to their positions.

"Well," said Bowser Jr., drying his remaining tears, "I was just sittin' around, mindin' my own business, when I heard a scream. I went to go see what was goin' on, but shadowy creatures came into my room. I tried to get 'em away with my paintbrush, but it wasn't working. They just kept coming. I thought I was done for, but then my papa showed up and breathed fire. The shadowy creatures scattered and I ran to papa's arms. He picked me up and started to run.

"He told me the others had been taken away by those shadows. Minions were bein' taken left and right. Every time my papa breathed fire, the shadowy creatures would scatter." Luigi raised an eyebrow.

"But more came back to get us. My papa slipped. I fell out of his arms and slid across the floor. They started to attack him. He pulled a key from his shell and threw it over to me. He said, 'Get out of here Junior! Save yourself! Don't worry about me!' Those were his exact words. Then… they just took him away." He fingered a key in his hand. Tears were welling in his eyes again.

"I didn't see where. I just ran. I ran as hard as I could. I only had the airship key and my paintbrush. I found the airship it went to and split. The first thing I thought was that you guys had sent them. I guess… that was a stupid idea wasn't it? Good guys wouldn't be in control of shadowy things." He managed a weak smile.

"This is a very serious issue indeed," said Peach, "If this new threat is against both sides of our quarrel…"

"We've got some serious evil to deal with," Mario finished.

"Well then, what do we do?" asked Toadsworth, who was staring at Bowser Jr. with discontent.

"We need to investigate," said Peach, "Toadbert, we need you to go find that book."

"Got it!" said the blue capped Toad.

"And we also need to figure out how to stop the inflow of shadowy creatures…" she continued.

"Which would mean sending someone into the mirrors!" Mario exclaimed, "Let's go Luigi!"

"Wait a minute Mario," said Luigi before Mario could start running off, "How do we know if this is safe or not?"

"It probably isn't," said Mario, "But we're the heroes, so we're going to do it anyways."

"But how are we going to get into the mirrors?" Luigi asked. Mario rubbed his chin.

"Good question," he said, "I don't know. Anybody got any ideas?" No ideas were put forth.

"I guess we use trial and error then," said Mario.

"Let's get some mirrors then," said Peach, "This meeting is adjourned. Back to the castle!" With that remark, most of the Toads disembarked. Bowser Jr. and the Toad Mario had saved stayed behind as did Toadsworth of course. The remaining people began to walk back to the castle. The little Toad ran up to Mario and tugged on the leg of his overalls. Mario looked down.

"E-excuse me Mr. Mario," he said timidly, "I want to thank you for saving me earlier."

"No problem kiddo," said Mario with a smile, "Say, what's your name anyhow?"

"Jonathan," the Toad replied. They entered the castle. They went straight to Princess Peach's dressing room. On the wall of the room was an enormous mirror. Dozens of identical dresses hung on the back wall.

"We can use this," said Peach, gesturing to the mirror, "I'm sure we can get it to take you to wherever those creatures are spawning." Luigi tapped the mirror. Nothing happened. He tapped it again in a different spot. He still got nothing.

"I don't see how this is going to work…" he said. They tried numerous points on the mirror, but nothing happened. It didn't seem to be showing signs of being a spawn point for shadowy creatures.

"This isn't working," said Toadsworth, "Young man, are you sure you saw them spawning from mirrors?"

"Yeah," said Jonathan.

"Maybe it takes a magic touch," said Mario thoughtfully, "Like a certain person touching it in a certain place."

"Well that's great Mario," said Luigi, "How are we going to find just the right person to touch just the right spot? That'll be impossible." Mario touched the center of the mirror. Nothing happened. He shook his head.

"I don't get it," he said, rubbing his chin, "We're going to need to think hard to crack this one." Peach's face lit up.

"What if you crack the mirror?" she asked hopefully. Mario's eyes lit up.

"You know, that might work," he said. He pulled a wrench from his overalls. He spun it in his hand and then readied a throw at the mirror. Just as he was about to throw however, a voice echoed through the room. The door suddenly slammed shut. The lights dimmed. The voice grew louder.

"Mirror… mirror… on the wall… mirror the world… mirror it all… To this new world, the heroes send… open the door of reflection again!" The mirror suddenly began to fluctuate, the glass rippling at a rapid rate.

"Princess, get back!" Mario yelled. Toadsworth dove under the counter. Princess Peach hid among her dresses. Bowser Jr. dropped his paintbrush and dove into his shell. Jonathan just stared. The fluctuations became faster and faster. Luigi hid behind Mario pulling his hat over his head. Mario glared down the mirror as hard as he could. He got into a battle ready stance. Then a vortex suddenly burst from the mirror. It picked up Mario and Luigi.

There wasn't time to say anything. The vortex dragged them into the mirror. They slipped through. The vortex swept through the room again. It passed overhead Jonathan, who stared at the mirror wide-eyed. It missed Princess Peach by a few inches. Toadsworth still cowered beneath the counter. It settled on Bowser Jr., picking up the young Koopaling and his paintbrush and dragging them inside. That done, the vortex vanished and the room returned to normal.

Peach slowly slipped out of the rack of dresses. Jonathan still stared at the mirror, which still rippled slowly. Toadsworth dragged himself out from under the counter and tried to stand up straight.

"Ooh, my back!" he complained, straightening himself out, "Where'd they go?" Peach shook her head.

"Mario, Luigi… and Junior… they're behind the mirror," she said as the mirror's rippling came to a halt, "I have a feeling…"

"Oh dear," said Toadsworth, who was beginning to panic, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! What will we do without our heroes?" He halted, skidding on the floor.

"You mustn't be left unattended princess!" said Toadsworth, holding his cane up in the air decidedly, "We must assign some sort of a guard to you until the Mario Brothers return!"

"Toadsworth, that won't be necessary," said Peach, "I'm just fine. And Mario and Luigi won't be gone for long." Jonathan, in the midst of this, continued to stare at the mirror above him. As Toadsworth and the Princess continued to argue trivially, he saw something that they couldn't have cared to notice. In the mirror he saw a pair of red eyes: red eyes that vanished at the next blink he took.

He snapped out of his little trance and looked over at the argument Toadsworth and Peach were having. The subject had turned to Junior and his trustworthiness. Toadsworth seemed to be getting more control-freakish by the second.

"Um… excuse me?" Jonathan asked. Toadsworth turned around without skipping a beat and continued yelling.

"Young man, can't you see that we're having a legitimate conversation right now!?" he yelled, "Stay out of this!" Jonathan began to tear up and started crying.

"Oh Toadsworth, now look what you've done," said Peach, walking over and picking Jonathan up.

"There, there little one," she said soothingly, "He didn't mean it."

"Princess, I'm still talking!" Toadsworth yelled, "That son-of-a-koopa could have been lying to us! The Mario Brothers could have been abducted by…"

"Toadsworth," said Peach, "Please stop. You're trying to make enemies that we don't need."

"But Princess…" he trailed off. Then he turned to the door.

"Well fine then," said Toadsworth, "You won't see me crying when you get abducted by those shadowy creatures." Princess Peach sighed and almost giggled. Toadsworth turned back.

"What?" he asked, still a little PO'd.

"Nothing," said Peach. Toadsworth adjusted his spectacles and proceeded to leave the room haughtily. Peach soon followed, Jonathan in her arms. She shut off the light and shut the door behind her. As her footsteps disappeared down the hall, the mirror rippled again and a dark figure jumped out, disguised by the darkness. The figure used its enormous nose to sniff around the room and turned to the door. The figure proceeded as well to exit the room, disappearing the opposite direction down the hallway.

* * *

Mario's face felt like it was flying off. He could hardly see. The vortex's power was overwhelming him. He could make out the figure that was his brother screaming nearby him. He struggled against the vortex's power and managed to grab Luigi's hand. Then, the vortex became gentler. Mario saw light coming from nearby. He looked into it and suddenly, it came to them. The ground suddenly appeared beneath his feet. Luigi clung to his leg, shaking.

"Luigi!" said Mario. Luigi stopped shaking and stood up, dusting himself off.

"Where are we?" asked Luigi as they looked around. They were a little ways from a giant volcano that spurted steam from its top. Tall cliffs flanked the area for a few miles, making it difficult to see what was over them. They stood on a dry plain; rocks surrounded them, and the ground glistened from a recent rain. Behind them was a puddle. It was rippling with energy. As the two plumbers stared at it, however, it stopped and became still.

"So is this where they're coming from?" asked Mario as he looked around, a hand placed under his chin.

"I don't know Mario," said Luigi, "Does this look like a place where shadowy creatures would live?"

"I can't say…" Mario pondered. He climbed atop a tall rock, tall enough to see over the cliffs and began to look around. He noted that the moon was in the sky, and that there were dark storm clouds flanking it. Looking around, he saw a forest in the west. He could see the edge of a lake to the south.

Then he noticed something in the distance to the northwest. He squinted. Then he was able to make out what he was looking at.

"Is that… Bowser's Castle?" he asked in disbelief.

"What?" Luigi asked. Mario helped Luigi onto the rock. They both looked northwest.

"Well… it does have everything Bowser's Castle might have..." said Luigi, "Bowser heads, Bowser symbols…"

"But it seems too… colorful," said Mario. Indeed, the Bowser's Castle they were seeing looked exactly as the one in their world did. However, this one was colored in greens and oranges instead of grays and blacks.

"Aiaiai… Something weird is going on here…" said Luigi.

"I agree," said Mario, "Let's check it out." They stumbled off of the rock and began their trek to the northwest. They ran into a problem almost immediately.

"Well this is a dead end if I've ever seen one," said Luigi. The cliffs didn't seem to end as they approached the volcano. They wrapped around the area creating a quarry of rocks at the foot of the volcano.

"Maybe we should find a way around?" Luigi guessed, "Like a secret tunnel or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous," said Mario, "This isn't a video game. We'll just jump!" He leapt up as high as he could, but fell quite a few feet short of the top of the cliff. He fell to the ground and landed on his bottom. Needless to say, the cliff was too high to jump.

"Well that didn't work," said Mario. Luigi nodded.

"So… I guess we go find a way around then," said Luigi.

"Yep," said Mario. Luigi helped him off of the ground and they continued.

* * *

They began to move alongside the cliff to the north. As they walked, they continued to observe their location. The quarry was about two miles by two miles in dimensions. The cliffs were about fifteen feet high. It took Mario and Luigi twenty minutes to get to the other end of the quarry, and by then they were right next to the volcano. They still had found no way out of the area and there certainly was no way around the quarry walls.

"Well this is just great," said Luigi, "How in the world do we get out of here?" There were no rocks they could climb on that were near enough to the cliff for a jump. They hadn't found any way to climb the cliff either. Mario rubbed his chin thoughtfully and looked at their surroundings. He turned to the volcano. He looked back at the cliff.

"I don't have any ideas," said Mario, shrugging.

"Well now what?" Luigi asked.

A voice suddenly came from above.

"Hey!" it called, "Need some help down there?" Mario and Luigi looked up. A normal green-shelled Koopa looked down at them, though normal was a bit of an understatement. The Koopa wore a fedora on his head and an eye patch over his right eye. He had a satchel wrapped around his shoulder. It took a few seconds for the Mario Bros to recover from the shock.

"Well... we are kind of stuck in here…" Luigi started.

"Alright then," said the Koopa, "Give me a minute." He disappeared from the cliff. Mario turned to Luigi.

"Does he seem a bit too nice to you?" Luigi asked.

"Come on Luigi," said Mario, "We've met a few nice Koopas in our days as heroes. Who's to say this isn't one of them?" Luigi nodded thoughtfully.

"Uh-huh," said Mario. The Koopa returned to view at the top of the cliff a few minutes later. He pushed a ladder down at them. Mario and Luigi were a bit stunned. Where in the world had he gotten a ladder in the middle of nowhere? The ladder was made of several logs and a few nails. As Luigi stepped upon the first rung, he found it to be quite stable.

Putting aside how the Koopa had come across such a thing in a matter of minutes, the two brothers climbed up and out of the large quarry.

"Thanks," said Mario. The Koopa said nothing for a few seconds, squinting at them and looking them up and down. Then his face lightened up.

"No problem," said the Koopa, holding out a hand, "The name's Kendall. Nice to meet you." Mario shook and then Luigi.

"I'm Mario and this my brother Luigi," said Mario, "We're here looking for the source of strange shadowy creatures that showed up and endangered the kingdom we hail from."

"Really," said Kendall, crossing his arms, clearly thinking what Mario had just said farfetched, "If I hadn't know any better I would have tried to take you both down already."

"Huh?" both brothers said at once.

"There's a duo that works for public enemy number one around these parts," said Kendall, "They're really dangerous. I've dedicated my life to hunting them down and stopping them. You happen to share the same names and appearances with them. But your preferred colors are swapped and you guys seem a lot nicer…" Mario and Luigi looked at each other.

"So… we're bad guys around here?" Luigi asked skeptically.

"That… seems to be the case," said Mario.

"Anyways," said Kendall, "What brings you here? You mentioned shadowy creatures?"

"Oh yes, what about the shadowy creatures?" asked Mario, "Have you seen any?" Kendall shook his head.

"A whole village population some ways from Koopa Town went missing, but that's the strangest thing that had come up in a while until you brought this up. That was about two days ago."

"The whole village?" asked Luigi.

"The last communications with the town happened three nights ago," said Kendall, "Then, suddenly, the village just stopped answering messages. When authorities went to investigate, they found the village deserted." The Bros looked at each other again.

"You think?" Luigi questioned.

"Sounds about right," said Mario.

"What?" asked Kendall.

"Can you take us to this village?" asked Mario, "We need to investigate this."

"Well… yeah, I guess," said Kendall a note of suspicion in his voice, "It's a little ways through the forest though. Are you two up for it?" Both heroes nodded immediately.

"Follow me then," he said. With those words, they moved down the cliff towards the edge of a nearby forest. As they entered the mouth of the foliage, none of them succeeded in noticing that dark shapes watching them from everywhere, hidden in the trees. One of them nodded to the others and they silently moved forward through the branches. For now, they would simply follow, but it was only a matter of time before they would attack.

* * *

**A/N: That was a really long chapter… but anyways, we rejoin our heroes as they look for the source of the enemy shadows. This quest has taken them through the mirror to a strange and unfamiliar new place. What will happen next? I don't know… even though I know the whole plot of this story… maybe… I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! HA! Why am I yelling? I am going to shut up now.**


	3. Village Assault

Chapter 3: Village Assault

Mario pushed a branch out of his way as the group walked through the thicket of trees. They had been walking for about an hour now. The murky woods moved alongside them. They didn't seem to be following any path, but Kendall didn't hesitate as he walked. Every turn and step he took was sincere and confident.

There was a constant rustling in the treetops above them. Mario could see Luigi shaking in fear of the sounds. Inside, he shivered a little himself. The trees cast menacing shadows around them in the night.

_"__Wait, night?"_ Mario thought to himself. It struck him in a sudden realization, noticing that it was nighttime in the world around him. Yet when they had entered this strange world, in their own world it had been day. He remembered the words that had spoken before he and Luigi had been sucked into the mirror.

"Mirror the world… mirror it all…" he repeated under his breath. Pieces suddenly began to fall into place in his mind. Bowser's castle colored in colorful, non-threatening colors was the first clue. That was quickly followed by Kendall recognizing them as villains. Now he noticed that night was upon them rather than day. Those words had meant what they said. Whoever had said them had sent the brothers to the world on the other side of the mirror. Literally, the world they now walked in was backwards in comparison to the world that they knew.

Before Mario could share this revelation with Luigi, Kendall spoke up.

"Here we are," he said. He pushed aside a branch and held it up for them to see. Mario and Luigi now gazed down upon a small town. It was surrounded in police tape and road blockers. Koopas in police outfits patrolled the grounds.

"This is it?" Luigi asked, a bit nervous at seeing all of the police tape.

"Yeah," said Kendall, "Police everywhere. Thankfully…" He rustled through his shell a little and pulled out a badge. "… I'm authorized."

Luigi looked at Mario, still uncertain. Mario nodded in approval. Kendall let them pass by and then followed behind them a little sparsely, taking a few moments to look at the village before continuing after them. As soon as Mario and Luigi reached the bottom of the hill, a yell broke out.

"It's them!"

Mario and Luigi immediately got in a fighting stance. Then they realized that the whole police force was surrounding them, about ready to jump them and beat them up.

"Hold on!" Kendall called, "They are clear!" The police force stepped back as Kendall rushed down the hill. He parted the crowd of police officers and then he nodded to them and they eased.

"Officer Kendall!" a Koopa said, running up to him, "Why have you cleared them?" Kendall slapped the Koopa across the face.

"Don't be an idiot," he said, "Only a stupid video game character would fail to see the difference. They are not our enemies." There were a few moments of mumbling and questioning among the police force. One by one they became quiet.

"Now, are we clear?" Kendall asked firmly.

"Yes Officer Kendall!" the others exclaimed in unison. They dispersed back to what they had been doing. Kendall gestured for Mario and Luigi to follow him under the police tape. The brothers obliged.

Kendall walked them through the village. Mario and Luigi took note of everything they could. There were burn marks in certain places. Kendall explained some of the locations at which they had found such markings.

"The library," Kendall said as they approached a building with so much fire damage that a large chunk of the building had burned off. Luigi took note of a mirror lying on its side that was shattered. He quickly averted his gaze. The other location with significant burns was a little ways down the street.

"The elder's house," said Kendall.

"Looks like some people agree with me," Luigi whispered to Mario.

"About the fire thing?" Mario said. Luigi nodded. Mario leaned in closer.

"Well I'll tell you something," he said, "I know where we are."

"… and this here is where the trail ends," said Kendall, halting their little conversation. They looked down at the ground at their feet. While there were no footprints, plants had clearly been trampled. The trail of trampled plants ended directly below a window. Mario walked up and tapped the window. Nothing happened.

"Hmm…" he asserted.

"It is strange," said Kendall, "How they got into the town through a window is beyond my knowledge. We've already searched the house inside and out. It seemed perfectly normal." Mario polished some fog off of the glass and was able to see his reflection in the window.

"This is a mirror too," he said to himself. He thought for a few seconds. More pieces clicked into place. Windows counted as mirrors too; they too could show reflection.

"_In that case…_" Mario thought, "_They could come from anywhere with any sort of reflection._" What they had seen already had already clicked something else in his mind as well; the shadowy creatures were not coming from this world. There was too much evidence against it.

"Mario," said Luigi. Mario snapped out of his thoughts.

"Let's go," his brother said, "I think we've seen enough here." Mario nodded.

"Luigi," he said as they begin to walk, leaving Kendall to talk to some of his officers, "I said that I know where we are right?" Luigi nodded.

"Bro, we are literally on the other side of the mirror," said Mario, "We're in a world completely backwards from our own." They stopped.

"Mamma mia…" Luigi said softly. He was shaking in fear.

"And I was thinking about how we entered this world," said Mario, "Through a mirror."

"Mario, what are you getting at?" Luigi asked nervously.

"Luigi," said Mario, "Those shadowy creatures could come from anywhere that shows a reflection. At least, I think that's the case. I mean, we came through a puddle."

"Water," Luigi said, visibly paling. Mario nodded.

"Water, windows, glass… anything of that sort," said Mario. Luigi shuddered.

"What do we do?" asked Luigi.

"Well first we need to find a way back," said Mario, "We know what to look out for now. All that's left to find is where they are coming from. Because clearly, they aren't coming from here." He began to walk away.

"But where?" Luigi questioned. He stepped to follow Mario, but suddenly, someone yelled, "Security breach!" The village suddenly burst to life. Police gathered in the center of the village. Kendall rushed past the bros to reach the activity.

"Calm down!" he yelled, grabbing random materials and trash off of the ground as he ran, "And stay focused! What did we see?" Luigi felt as though he was being watched. Then he heard Mario yell.

"Luigi! Power-ups now!" Luigi instinctively jumped in the air and grabbed a power-up out of his overalls. He squeezed it as hard as he could as he turned in the air and landed on his feet. As he slid on his feet across the ground, his clothing turned to that of his Ice form, and he saw his enemy. Four shadowy creatures were approaching him.

Luigi froze the ground at his feet as the shadowy creatures approached. They slipped on the ice and were effectively slowed down. Luigi proceeded to freeze the rest of the area around him so that they would be stuck on the ice and then he skated away. However, more shadowy creatures pursued him from other directions.

Thinking quickly, Luigi hit solid ground and began to run backwards. The shadowy creatures gained on him. He did a backflip. As he flattened out in the air he shot ice down at the ground below. A wall of ice formed in front of the pursuing shadowy creatures. Luigi landed on his feet. Then, immediately, he saw that he had made a mistake. He saw himself in the ice that he had created. It rippled.

He turned to run immediately. He ran into another group of shadowy creatures, arching around and closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder and saw shadowy creatures walking out of the mirror of ice as well. They were surrounding him.

He suddenly heard a battle cry. He looked up. Above the wall of ice was small figure holding a hammer made of the strangest materials. As the figure fell towards the ground, Luigi recognized him as Kendall. He smashed the hammer into the ice wall. The wall broke into tiny fragments. The shadowy creatures suddenly turned their attention on the Koopa. Kendall narrowed his eyes and charged.

Kendall smashed his makeshift hammer into one shadowy creature. It flew and collided with three more. Five more came and took their places. One jumped at him. He smashed it into another. The other three attempted to charge him from different sides. He spun and smashed them away. Another shadowy creature approached from behind. He turned and smashed it into the ground.

He jumped over Luigi and knocked another to the ground that had been sneaking up on the green clad plumber. Luigi joined the fight again. He jumped up and out of the way of two shadowy creatures, causing them to smash into each other. He enclosed his fist in midair, let it freeze, and then let gravity do its work. He smashed an ice-charged fist into the heads of the two shadowy creatures. They collapsed.

He then threw an iceball at an approaching shadowy creature. It took a direct hit. Kendall proceeded to smash it out of the way. Luigi front-flipped over Kendall and kicked another to the ground. As he landed near Kendall, the Koopa smashed another into the side of a building.

"This isn't effective," Kendall said urgently.

"What do you mean?" asked Luigi.

"I mean, we're not getting rid of any of them," said the Koopa as he smashed away another, "We have to either get rid of them or shoo them away!" Before Luigi could point out that both of those options were exactly the same, a pillar of flame suddenly rose from behind a nearby house. Mario turned the corner, hands on fire, literally blazing through hoards of shadowy creatures. The creatures were ducking out of the way left and right, trying desperately, or so it seemed, to avoid the flames that Mario was producing. Kendall noticed this.

"That's it…" he said. Luigi understood as well. Clearly, his theory was correct. These things did _not_ like fire.

"Mario!" Kendall called, "Corner them!" He turned to Luigi.

"I need you to make an ice enclosure that we can round them into," said Kendall. Luigi nodded and ran. It was difficult to find a suitable location at which he could set up the enclosure since the shadowy creatures were running amok all over the village. He constantly had to stop and fight in order to subdue enough of them to keep moving. He finally came across an extensive rock wall on the other side of the village, free of the chaos. He set to work.

* * *

In the meantime, Mario and Kendall were busy rounding up the many shadowy creatures which were busy fleeing from the flames that Mario was producing. Eventually, they got all of them into one big group, backing away from the lines of fire, which Mario moved with them. The ones on the outer edge of the group looked as though they were shaking fearfully, and were pressing as inward as possible. A spray of snow suddenly went up from the other side of the village. Kendall nodded at Mario and they picked up their pace.

Luigi was busy subduing shadowy creatures that had come through the enclosure when they got there. They were quickly rounded into the ring of fire. They carefully led the creatures into the enclosure. Mario set up a wall of fire at its entrance. The ice began to melt quickly. Kendall spoke in turn.

"Go back to where you came from," said Kendall. The shadowy creatures almost immediately stepped back through the mirror of ice. As soon as they were all gone, Mario immediately melted the entire enclosure and evaporated the water. Then the bros both powered down and stored their power-ups.

"They took every one of my colleagues," said Kendall grimly, throwing his makeshift hammer into the remaining flames. It began to burn to ashes. He turned to the brothers.

"Anything else you need from me?" he asked, almost in hostility. Mario and Luigi both stared at Kendall for a few seconds. They had withheld their amazement at the Koopa's abilities throughout the battle, but now that things had winded down, they were looking at him in awe. He had made a hammer out of random junk one might find on the ground. This guy was something else.

"Well?" Kendall asked, a bit of a growl in his voice as he narrowed his eye. Mario and Luigi snapped out of it and huddled together.

"I don't know," said Luigi, "What do you think bro?"

"We have a lead on where these things are coming from," said Mario, "We need to find a way back." Luigi nodded. They broke up.

"No," said Mario, "Thank you for your help." Kendall nodded. The bros began to walk away. Luigi turned back once just to get another look at the Koopa, but he quickly continued after his brother. Kendall watched them suspiciously. Suddenly he was doubting himself. Luigi seemed to know beforehand that the shadowy creatures had fire as a weakness. Mario had as well. The brothers seemed to talk in secret a lot. They had claimed to have met the shadowy creatures in battle before. All of these were reasons to look upon them with suspicion.

Arbitrarily, as he watched them disappear beyond village boundaries, he began to follow distantly. An investigation was in order. These two could not be left unwatched.

* * *

"Why have you returned so soon my children?" a woman shrouded in shadow asked, poison in her voice. A blue crystal ball sat in her lap and she sat on a throne. Before her stood the shadowy creature army that had been driven away by the heroes. They stood within an enormous, dark purple chamber. The one window of the chamber gave no light. It instead opened up to a world of darkness.

"M-mother Shadias," the shadowy creature in charge said raspily, "My deepest apologies. They threatened us with fire and…"

"Idiots!" the woman named Shadias yelled, "I know that! You know good and well that my crystal ball tells me everything. Your failures included!"

"M-mother Shadias…" the shadowy creature stuttered.

"I understand your weaknesses," Shadias said, a threatening tone in her voice, "But fire is not one of them. If fire is thrown at you, hold out until you die! Burn up like a soldier. Don't flee like the cowardly useless Shade you're acting like at the moment. My goodness… sometimes I cannot believe I created you spineless…" A concealed door suddenly opened with a loud groan at the other end of the room. A Koopa's head popped in.

"Shadias…"

"SHELLY!" Shadias screamed, "HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT ME WHILE I AM YELLING AT MY MINIONS!"

"M-m-mother Shadias…" the Shade said again.

"YOU SHUT UP AND LEAVE MY SIGHT!" Shadias yelled, "GO BACK TO YOUR POST AND DON'T LEAVE IT!"

"Yes mother…" the Shade said meekly. It gestured for the rest of its legion to follow it out of the door. This allowed the one named Shelly to walk into the room. She was a young Koopa with a smooth red shell and artificial spikes that retracted into it. She didn't have the spikes out at the current moment. Her blonde hair was tied back into a pony-tail.

"Well sorry," Shelly said once the door was shut. Shadias slumped into her chair. The shadows in the room still shrouded her so that she could not be seen.

"It's fine," Shadias grumbled, "What do you want?"

"I just came to inform you that Kiara is in the field now," said Shelly, "She's waiting for orders." Shadias briefly glanced into her crystal ball.

"He says for her to stand by until given further instruction," said Shadias, "Emphasis on 'stand by'."

"Is he sure about that?" Shelly asked, crossing her arms, "I think we all know how Kiara is."

"I wouldn't question it," said Shadias, sitting up in her seat, "After all, father knows all." Shelly nodded.

"This is very true," she said thoughtfully, "Anything you need sis?"

"How about headache medication?" Shadias asked, "The Shades have been driving me crazy."

"Well that's your fault for making them total idiots in the first place," said Shelly.

"Get out of here," said Shadias threateningly, "Go check on the prisoners or something. And quit making googly eyes at that one kid. He's a prisoner."

"Yeah," said Shelly, her voice becoming dreamy, "But he's so handsome…"

"Get out of here," said Shadias, "You're making me sick." Shelly giggled, opened the door, and left the room. The door shut itself behind her. Shadias slumped in her chair again.

"Sometimes I hate being the oldest…" she groaned.

* * *

**A/N: A bit more serious of a chapter here with the explanation it gives us. It seems that Mario and Luigi have figured out the gimmicks of the world in which they walk at the moment and also a few things about those shadowy creatures, which are apparently called Shades according to those who seem to be the villains. What exactly are these villains plotting? **

**I apologize for the super long chapters. I've kind of been getting carried away with writing lately since I've been away from it for so long. Actually, I'm not sorry about that. The next chapter is even longer.**


	4. Five Sides to the Story

Chapter 4: Five Sides to the Story

_Bowser Jr.'s eyes opened to find that he was in a dark room. He shuddered. He felt a presence nearby. Something was there with him. _

_"__Papa?" he questioned nervously. He moved to get up, but he was pulled back. He looked down to his wrists and saw that he was in chains. He couldn't move more than two feet from his current position. His heart raced. _

_Then, from the darkness, a large mirror appeared. It floated in midair around Bowser Jr., who was sweating and almost crying in fear. It circled him twice before stopping in front of him. At that moment, he found himself immobilized. He suddenly couldn't move, turn or anything else. He was forced to stare at the mirror. At first, he saw only his reflection. Then, the mirror began to ripple. Suddenly, instead of his reflection, he saw the image of one of the shadowy creatures. _

_The creature jumped out of the mirror, followed by several others. They began to fill the room. Bowser Jr. tried to scream for help but he couldn't. His voice wasn't working. They began to pile on him. His voice broke out suddenly._

_"__PAPA!" he screamed. A blast of fire came from nowhere. Bowser suddenly appeared from behind Bowser Jr. and begin spewing fire everywhere. The shadowy creatures were thrown into chaos. Many returned to the mirror. But then they managed to get ahold of Bowser. Bowser Jr. desperately tried to run from his bonds, but he couldn't escape them. The shadowy creatures pulled Bowser towards the mirror. Bowser Jr. cried and tried to yell at them, but nothing was working. They pulled Bowser to the mirror and threw him in. He disappeared. _

_"__PAPA!" Bowser Jr. screamed. The shadowy creatures slowly disappeared from the room and back into the mirror. As soon as the room was empty, Bowser Jr. sat on the ground and cried. Then, when he looked back at the mirror, which still floating there, he saw that a face had appeared, one with red eyes and a toothy mouth. It gave a loud cackle and then a vortex appeared. Bowser Jr.'s bonds disappeared and he began to be sucked into the vortex. He held onto the ground desperately, crying nonstop. Then he lost his grip. He screamed as he flew towards the mirror, that horrible cackle echoing through the room and in his head…_

* * *

Junior woke up in a cold sweat. He shivered and hugged himself for comfort. That was a nightmare. He managed to shake it off and take a look around. He sat at the edge of a large lake that extended for nearly two miles to the west. A little ways down, he saw that his paintbrush was teetering on the bank. He ran over and grabbed it. He took a good long look at it, and after deciding that it was fine, sat down on the bank of the lake.

He looked into the water sadly. First his family had been kidnapped by those shadows and then he had been sucked into a vortex and had woken up in a strange place. He looked up to the night sky, where the moon was bright. He narrowed his eyes at the moon. Something wasn't right about that. He shook it off and looked back into the water.

Seeing his reflection, he adjusted his bib. Then, suddenly, the image of a shadowy creature appeared and he fell backwards. He got stuck on his shell. It took him a few seconds to roll over and turn back around, paintbrush in hand and ready to fight. When nothing happened, he walked back up to the bank and looked in again. He saw his own reflection again. He sighed. It was a flash to the nightmare. He would have that on his mind for quite a while.

He finally began to walk away from the lake. He didn't have a good sense of where he was going. He didn't even really know where he was in the first place. He just wanted to feel like he was getting somewhere.

Needless to say, it only took about five minutes for Junior to get himself lost. He had wandered into the woods nearby the lake and walked as far away from the lake as possible. He didn't want to be exposed to anything that could possibly display a reflection at this point; the dream had traumatized him. Unfortunately, the woods were thick and there was no path. Junior, realizing that he had no clue where he was, fell down on his bottom and began to cry again.

"Man, what did I do to deserve this?" Junior cried, "Is it because I'm so mean to those Mario Brothers? I only do it 'cause papa tells me so! They're meanies! I knew I shouldn't have trusted them! Now I'm lost and it's all their fault!"

"Whose fault?" a voice said behind him. Junior turned around, startled. He backed onto his feet and held his paintbrush at the speaker, who stepped back in surprise. Junior stared wide-eyed. The speaker took off his bib and let it hang around his neck, similar to Junior. However, his displayed a smiley face.

"It's okay," he said, "I'm not going to hurt you or anything. My name's Bowser Jr. You can just call me Junior." Our Junior took a step back, still not lowering his paintbrush.

"You… you like exactly like me," our Junior said in shock. The other Junior looked confused. Then he had an 'aha moment' face.

"Oh, I see," said the other Junior, "That's why you're so scared. Well you don't have to be. It's probably just some sort of a crazy coincidence. Are you lost?"

"Uh… yes?" our Junior said cautiously.

"Well I can take you to my papa!" the other Junior exclaimed, "He'll be able to help you; I'm sure of it!"

"Your… papa?" our Junior asked.

"Yeah!" said the other Junior, "He's the king of this land. And he's the best papa anyone could ask for." Our Junior was still a bit uncomfortable with this but he nodded nonetheless. This would probably yield more results than what he had been doing.

"Great!" said the other Junior, "Let's go! We can talk on the way!"

And so they started walking. The other Junior began to talk almost immediately.

"So who were you talking about back there?" he asked our Junior, "You seemed kind of upset." Our Junior hesitated to answer.

"You don't have to answer," the other Junior said, "If it's that personal I mean." Our Junior shook his head.

"No, it's fine," he said, "My papa got kidnapped by a bunch of shadowy creatures. I thought it was our enemy's fault, so I went straight to them to get my revenge. But they said they had been attacked as well. I trusted them. But the last thing I remember is diving into my shell and then gettin' sucked up by a vortex into a mirror on the wall. I think that they did that on purpose just to get rid of me…"

"That sounds horrible," said the other Junior, "Who are these enemies of yours? And what are these shadowy creatures you're talking about?"

"Well, my enemies… well, they're actually my papa's nemeses," said Junior, "They're named Mario and Luigi and they…"

"Oh man," said the other Junior, "When do they ever stop?"

"Huh?" our Junior asked.

"They're wanted for every crime in the book," said the other Junior, "My papa and older siblings have a ton of trouble keeping them in check. They work under an evil so-called princess who wants to take over the kingdom. I wonder..."

"Wait, wait, wait," said our Junior, "Slow down." They did in fact slow down: as a matter of fact, to a stop.

"You're sayin' that they're total criminals," said our Junior, "That doesn't sound right…"

"But it's true!" said the other Junior, "They even blew up an island of innocent people once!"

"This is so confusing…" said our Junior, "I never heard about this…"

"You didn't?" asked the other Junior, "But that was the biggest heist of last year! Okay, you've got to have heard about the time that they attempted to kidnap my papa and hold him for ransom! Or the time they set fire to a village for fun!" Our Junior shook his head.

"Those sound like things my papa would do," our Junior said, "See, he's part of a complex business. He's supposed to kidnap the princess by any means necessary and then Mario and Luigi are supposed to come save her. And that's supposed to make lots of money." The other Junior now looked confused.

"That makes it sound like you came straight out of a video game…" he said, "Or a movie. Or something. And that doesn't sound like the Mario and Luigi I know about… Wait. So are you good or bad? Or neutral?" Our Junior began to sweat at that question. Suddenly his mind was racing. He had no idea what to say. The conversation was overloading his brain.

"I don't know anymore!" our Junior cried, "It doesn't make any sense! I just want my papa back!" He sat down and started crying again. After a few moments of hesitation, the other Junior put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright," said the other Junior, "My papa will know what's going on and what to do. Now come on. It's just a little further through these woods and then we'll be in the capitol of the kingdom: Koopa Town." Our Junior nodded and the other Junior helped him up. They began to walk again. This time, neither of them spoke a word.

Mario and Luigi came across a lake shortly after leaving the village grounds.

"This looks like a good place to try," said Mario.

"I still don't think it'll work though," said Luigi, "After all, it wasn't even us who got us here in the first place."

"Well you know what mama always said," said Mario, "'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.'"

"I don't think mama ever said that," said Luigi.

"You know what I'm saying," said Mario, "Now help me here." He looked into the lake and tapped his reflection. Nothing happened. Luigi did the same thing in another location. Nothing. They got about a quarter of the way around the lake before Luigi tapped the water and the reflection started to ripple.

"That's it!" Mario exclaimed, "Good job Luigi!"

"Thank you," said Luigi proudly. One at a time, they jumped into the rippling water and disappeared, leaving the mirrored world behind.

* * *

Kendall watched from behind a tree as Mario and Luigi disappeared into the lake. He then acted quickly. He grabbed a few leaves and put them on the ground. He also grabbed some sticks of varying sizes and added them to the pile. He took a battery case with batteries in it out of his satchel and threw it as well onto the pile. He pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his satchel as well. He hastily wrote a note which read:

"To whomever may find this: your world is possibly in danger. Two men in blue overalls and a red shirt and green shirt respectively are wandering your world. I suspect that they are the highly dangerous Mario Brothers. Be careful. They will not hesitate to hurt you. Sincerely, Officer Kendall T. Shellton."

He put the paper on the pile along with a nail. Then he shut his eyes and raised both hands over the materials. He focused. The materials began to glow. Suddenly, they floated into the air and began to mold together. Five seconds later, a fully functional wooden airplane gently floated to the ground. The paper, now folded, was nailed to the back of the plane. Kendall turned the leaf propeller of the plane, reinforced by small sticks, and it whirred to life. He threw it into the air and it flew around once or twice before flying into the still rippling water. Shortly afterwards, the water stopped rippling.

"_Just as I expected,_" thought Kendall, "_They created it and then closed it… whatever it was. It was smart to not go in myself; I might have gotten stuck in that world. I get the feeling that I'm onto something here… something that could help King Bowser to take down that insidious Princess Peach once and for all!_"

* * *

Toadsworth nervously tapped his cane on the ground as he waited for the princess to finish addressing the Toads taking refuge in the castle. She had taken the time to write a whole speech so as to comfort these Toads who had not been kidnapped in the attack. Toadsworth checked his watch. She had been talking for nearly twenty minutes. It had been nearly twelve hours since the Mario Bros and Bowser Jr. had disappeared through the mirror. Toadsworth was getting antsier by the second.

Just then, there was a knock at the castle door. Toadsworth immediately ran to greet whomever it was. Perhaps it was Toadbert with some sort of findings on the shadowy creatures. By the time he arrived at the front door of the castle, the guards had already opened it. In had stepped a female Koopa with a pink shell and a green reporter's cap. She had on a backpack and held a notebook and pencil in her hand.

"Hello there sir!" she said cheerfully, walking up and shaking Toadsworth's hand automatically, "The name is Kayla Koopa! Ace reporter! I'm here to get some information on this… incident."

"Hold on, hold on," said Toadsworth, tearing his hand away from hers, "We hardly know anything about this incident at the moment! The Mario Brothers are still out investigating! And who sent you anyways?"

"The reporting service of course," said Kayla as if the fact should have been obvious, "So here I am! Following in my mother's footsteps as an ace reporter! Now I'm sure someone around here can answer a few questions for me until the Mario Brothers can get back with more elaborate information right? You know, survivors of the attack… guards… maybe the princess?"

"Why did we not receive word that you were coming?" Toadsworth asked, almost furiously, "The reporting service usually sends us a message ahead of time to let us know that they're sending someone to gather information."

"It was short notice," said Kayla, "You know how things are in the reporting business."

"No I do not," said Toadsworth angrily, "And there wasn't even a short notice. There was no notice at all!"

"Come on, just a coupla questions?" she asked, batting her eyes, "Please?"

"Toadsworth," Princess Peach said entering the room, "What's going on?"

"Ah, princess!" Toadsworth exclaimed, "This impudent girl thought she could just barge in here without notifying us and ask questions about the incident. You must order her to leave at once."

"Toadsworth, what harm will it do to answer a few questions?" asked Peach, "It's not like the knowledge of the attack isn't going to spread throughout the kingdom."

"But princess… we know almost nothing!" Toadsworth argued, "You wouldn't want the rest of the kingdom looking at you like a liar would you? We still have no idea what those shadowy creatures were!"

"Ooh, shadowy creatures?" Kayla questioned, getting her notebook ready, "There's a start. What about them?"

"Please come into the dining hall for some tea and we'll tell you all about what we know," said Peach.

"Thanks," said Kayla, "I'd really appreciate it your majesty." She bowed to the princess.

"There's no need for that," said Peach with a smile, "Now come."

"Yes ma'am!" Kayla exclaimed. Toadsworth was a little stunned, but he shook it off.

"Oh, I hope she realizes the risks she takes…" he said mournfully, "That girl is such a handful…" As he walked after them, his mind went back to Toadbert. He wondered if the boy had found anything out…

* * *

Toadbert had moved on to the town library after he had found nothing in his own on the shadowy creatures and the mirrors. He was on row three out of nearly a hundred. The library was deserted except for him; all of the other Toads were taking refuge in the castle. He shelved another book, almost angrily. He was over the fact that this library didn't list their books alphabetically, by author or title. His OCD was killing him, so much that he began to consider organizing the entire library himself. If he did that, he would certainly get to looking at all of the books and would definitely find something on the shadowy creatures and such. So he set to work doing just that.

He was at it for about an hour when he found a book written in a completely different language. This language was made up of strange symbols that made no sense to him.

"By boogity," he said excitedly, "It's something I don't know!" He proceeded to change his objective entirely and forgot about organizing the library as he began trying to decipher the book. Eventually, after an hour or two of that, he got tired of it. He did manage to figure out what the title was and organized it accordingly. He would definitely be coming back to that one later. From what he was able to decipher, it was about the epic adventure of a hero as he travelled through time. That was a kind of story he liked. Of course, he loved books, so he kind of liked most all stories.

He was organizing for another four hours before he found something else of interest: a cookbook containing the recipes of some of the famous dishes of Sarasaland. This was a rare find. Sarasaland's cuisine was a delicacy in the Mushroom Kingdom for the most part. He read that for another three hours and memorized a few recipes before putting it down and continuing his organization.

Finally, about forty-five minutes later, he came across something that was important to the plot of this story and not meant to drag on this chapter for humor purposes. He found a book titled The Shadows and the Mirrors: A Prophecy Foretold by Merlon the Wizard. At first he just squinted at it through his glasses and then put it on the stack of 'S' books. However, he immediately realized that the book was exactly what he was looking for. As such, he turned around to grab it again. Unfortunately, he tripped from the sudden turn and knocked over the pile of books that he had placed it on top of. That set off a chain reaction that knocked over the other piles of books he had painstakingly organized, all the way up to the 'L' pile.

"Darn it all!" he yelled aloud. He looked for the book, but he could not find it on the enormous pile of books that he had just created.

"This is going to take a while…" he said wearily, "Boogity…" And that was what Toadbert had accomplished in the time that Mario and Luigi had been gone.


	5. Troubles Becoming

Chapter 5: Troubles Becoming

"Just… one step at a time Luigi," Mario whispered as they tiptoed into a large chamber.

"I hear you Mario," Luigi whispered back. It had been their misfortune to fall out of the mirror in the depths of a Wiggler nest. Why there was a mirror in the depths of a Wiggler nest they would never know, but what they did know was that if they managed to wake one of the twenty Wigglers around them up, they would be in a heap of trouble.

They remained absolutely silent as they tiptoed across the room. Mario had made sure they had oiled their shoes so that they wouldn't squeak. It was something he had learned over the time he had been a hero, sneaking into places and such.

Everything was going perfectly according to plan; the exit was in sight. The exit was quite large (as were the Wigglers around them) and they could see sun was sinking beneath the horizon outside. Mario and Luigi made it to the exit of the nest. Mario eased his pace into a walking one as he took a few steps away from the exit. Luigi did the same… except that he stepped on and snapped a twig.

Immediately, every Wiggler in the nest woke up, turned red and glared at them angrily. Luigi went wide-eyed and almost fainted. Mario grabbed his arm and ran. The Wigglers followed in hot pursuit.

"CURSE YOU STUPID CLICHÉS!" he screamed as he ran. The Wigglers continued to run after him. And in the confusion, neither party noticed a small wooden plane flying out of the mouth of the nest.

* * *

Mario stopped to catch his breath after they had entered a forest, leaning against a tree as he did so. Luigi was busy trying to make sure everything worked. He stretched his legs. Then he stretched his arms. Then he stood up and stretched his back. Then he sat back down on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Aiaiai, that was frightening," he said. Mario wasn't listening. He was staring off through the trees, at the path that cut the forest in two.

"Mario?" Luigi questioned.

"Hide!" Mario said suddenly. He pushed Luigi underneath some shrubbery and then ducked down under it himself. He peeked over the bushes. Luigi popped up next to him.

"Ow…" Luigi said, rubbing his head, "What was that for?"

"Shhh!" Mario shushed. He continued to stare in the same general direction. Luigi did the same. Suddenly, he saw what Mario was looking at and ducked beneath the bush again.

"You saw it right?" Mario asked, ducking down with him.

"Yeah," said Luigi, "Shadowy creatures everywhere." Mario nodded.

"We have the element of surprise this time," said Mario, pulling a Fire Flower out of his overalls. Luigi nodded and did the same. They both squeezed their power-up and changed to their fire form. Then, just as they were about to leave the bushes and attack, a voice rang out.

"Hello friends!" Mario pulled Luigi back down and covered his mouth. The voice was female and high pitched. Mario peeked over the bushes. He raised an eyebrow of surprise at the sight. A black Yoshi was associating with the shadowy creatures.

"Miss Kiara!" one of the shadowy creatures exclaimed in a raspy voice standard to the shadowy creatures, "Did your sister send you?" Mario ducked behind the bush again and mouthed to Luigi the words, 'They talk.' He looked back over.

"Yep!" said Kiara, "But I don't have any orders so I'm just exploring right now." She turned Mario's direction and Mario ducked behind the bush again.

"Ooh!" Kiara exclaimed, "A fruit bush! I've always wanted to try these but Shadias and daddy would never let me leave except on short assignments. I've never gotten to try…" Mario heard the Yoshi's tongue snap up a fruit from the other side of the bush. He heard her swallowing it.

"That's good…" she said after she had gulped it down. The tongue shot at the bush again. Mario heard her swallow again. He held his breath. He heard the tongue lash out again. This time, she reached through the bush and her tongue latched onto his hat. He went into a panicked state for a few seconds. Luigi felt it too. They were busted.

"What's this?" Kiara asked, "It doesn't look like a fruit…" Mario looked over at Luigi, who was shaking in fear.

"Let's not hurt the Yoshi," he whispered, "She seems pretty innocent." Luigi nodded but continued shaking. Mario put a hand on his shoulder and then he stopped. Then Mario counted down on his fingers. 3… 2… 1…

They burst out from behind the bush. Mario swiped his hat from Kiara's hands, fashioned it on his head and threw a fireball directly at the nearest shadowy creature. It ducked out of the way and the fireball smashed into a tree, setting it on fire.

"Mamma Mia…" Mario said to himself, "I've done it now." He had no time to dwell on that and ducked to dodge the punch of a shadowy creature coming in at him away from the fire. Luigi kicked said shadowy creature into a tree. Mario jumped the charge of a shadowy creature coming his way down the path and threw a fireball at it. The fireball hit directly but didn't slow him down. As a matter of fact, he stopped, dropped, and rolled and the fire disappeared.

The surprise of this event led Mario to be knocked over by another shadowy creature. He did a backflip and began throwing punches. The shadowy creature caught one of them so Mario kicked it in the side. Then he slammed the shadowy creature to the ground and kicked it towards the side of the forest that was on fire.

Luigi, in the meantime, was throwing fireballs like a madman, barely keeping them in the range of the path. The shadowy creatures were frantically dodging them and trying to get a clear shot at him. Finally, one of them got behind him and he was tackled to the ground. He somersaulted and grabbed the shadowy creature by the arms, throwing him off and into one of his buddies. A few more tried to gang up on him but he kicked one down, blasted another to the ground, and caught the punches of the other two. He threw them to the ground.

Luigi met Mario in the middle of the path.

"Is that all of them?" Luigi asked.

"There were only a few," said Mario, "There have to be more. You go one way and I'll go the other. We'll meet back here…" He was interrupted by a loud, piercing cry, so loud that it made the birds who were already fleeing the fire flee even faster. That was followed by loud sobbing. Mario and Luigi had to cover their ears. They looked around for a source. Their eyes settled on Kiara, the black Yoshi, whose tears flowed like a dam just broke.

"Stop it!" Kiara cried, "You're hurting my friends! They didn't do anything to you! They're… they're just following orders! Please just stop!" Her tears flowed harder. At that moment a flaming tree fell between the Mario Brothers and Kiara. That woke Mario and Luigi up.

"We have to save her!" Mario yelled over the sobbing and the crackling fire and the nonexistent dramatic music.

"But Mario, she's the enemy!" Luigi yelled back.

"It doesn't matter!" Mario yelled, "She's innocent! Now let's go!" Mario jumped the flaming tree and ran over to Kiara. Luigi reluctantly followed him. Kiara was still pretty young by the looks of it. She was a lot smaller than a normal, full-grown Yoshi, but still bigger than a baby. Mario was able to pick her up easily and started running. Luigi followed at his heels. Within a few minutes, they had left the flaming forest and found a nice hill to rest on just outside of it. Mario set Kiara, now crying softly, down on the grass. He sat down and looked at the damage he had caused. The flaming forest made him feel guilty especially since it really hadn't accomplished something.

"You know," said Luigi, interrupting his thoughts, "I know you'll probably call me crazy for saying this, but I saw some of those shadowy creatures that we knocked out vanish into thin air after a few minutes near the fire."

"But that doesn't make any sense," said Mario, "I set one of them on fire and it just shook it off…"

"They're called Shades you meanies," Kiara said suddenly. She stood up. Mario scooted back towards Luigi, who had been standing behind him (to put it in perspective, she was about half as tall as Luigi standing). Kiara was glaring harshly.

"And if you really want to know, they're susceptible to light," she said angrily, "I don't know who you are, but I know that you're not my friends because you hurt my friends. And I don't ever wanna see you again!" A few moments of tense silence followed. Then, Kiara's eyes suddenly softened from the glare they were before. Tears formed in her eyes again and then she shut them.

"I… I'm sorry," she said tearfully. With that, she ran down the hill away from the burning forest. The brothers were unable to do or say anything. They just watched her go. Luigi looked down at Mario.

"I can't tell if she's innocent or evil now," he said, "That was like… two different people in ten seconds."

"Yeah…" said Mario, standing up and looking back at the flames. He squinted.

"Hey Luigi," Mario said, "The fire is receding!" Luigi looked up.

"Hey, you're right!" he exclaimed.

"Must be a firefighting organization nearby…" said Mario. Luigi nodded but then his smile turned into a frown and his eyes become worried. Mario happened to notice this.

"What's wrong Luigi?" Mario asked. Luigi's arms dropped to his sides.

"Mario? What's the name of the primary firefighting group in the Mushroom Kingdom?" Luigi asked.

"The Wiggler Water Rushers," Mario said, "Why?" The second he said that, he realized what Luigi was getting at. A Wiggler scream pierced the air.

"Mamma Mia…" Mario said, "RUN!" And they did, the Wigglers appearing from the once burning forest and beginning the pursuit anew as the moon appeared in the sky. And in the light of the moon, for a brief second, a small wooden airplane was illuminated. Then it sputtered and began its decent.

* * *

The office of the reporting service, which was a small cottage that belonged to its editor-in-chief, was relatively quiet if you didn't count the loud snoring done by its one resident. That is, until there was a loud 'thunk' at the door. The editor-in-chief, a Koopa with a green shell and a white and curly moustache, jumped up from his sleep startled. He looked around in the darkness and rubbed his eyes. Deciding to check things out, he stepped out of bed, turned on his lamp, put on his bathrobe, and walked past all of his printing materials to the door, figuring that it was some lost traveler. The editor-in-chief was a very kind Koopa.

When he opened the door, however, he simply found a small wooden airplane. The propeller had broken off, but the rest of it had remained intact. He noticed a piece of paper attached to the back by a nail. That piqued his interest and he brought the plane inside, shutting the door. He went to his nightstand and pulled out a hammer. He proceeded to remove the nail and unfold the paper. He skimmed over it and by the time he had finished he was wide-eyed.

"The Mario Brothers? Highly dangerous? What did they do?" There was a knock at his door.

"Oh dear, what now?" he asked himself. He answered the door to find that a Wiggler was standing there.

"Hello Mr. Editor-in-chief," said the Wiggler, reading off of a piece of paper, "The Wiggler Water Rushers would like to inform you of a fire in a forest nearby here. We believe that the fire was started by the Mario Brothers, who had been snooping around the area just before the fire began. We are still unsure of whether this is an accident or not." The Wiggler, just as big as the others, handed the paper to the editor-in-chief. Then the Wiggler held out his hand to shake. The editor-in-chief held out his hand as well. The Wiggler proceeded to crush his hand in a handshake. Then, the Wiggler smiled and left.

"Ouch…" the editor-in-chief said, shaking his hand. The Wigglers hand had been about as big as the editor-in-chief's head.

He shut the door with his elbow and proceeded to read the message again.

"Ah, I see," said the editor-in-chief, "Boy, I didn't know they were arsons! This is going on the front page! It'll be the story of the year!" He went to grab the other letter. As he did, he noticed that it was signed.

"Officer Kendall T. Shellton…" he said, "Hmm… never heard of him. Sounds like a pretty informed guy." And with that, he set to work on the next day's paper early.

* * *

Kayla was unable to sleep after what she had heard from Princess Peach. The numbers had shocked her; more than three-fourths of the town's population had been kidnapped. And then she had said that Bowser and many of his minions had been taken away as well. Then she had told her about the mirrors and how the Mario Brothers had gone to find out the source of the creatures. It was a lot for Kayla to take in. Thankfully, she had written it all down. She had been invited to stay at the castle for the night. She would return to the office in the morning.

She rolled over in the bed that had been given to her. Her mind went to other things, specifically what the editor-in-chief was doing at the moment. She had sometimes come up to the cottage late at night and found him starting the next day's paper early with the wackiest news. Once he had written a story about the start of an apocalypse when what was really going on was the relocation of a few villages after an earthquake. He tended to exaggerate things a lot. Kayla often had to keep him in check since no one else would.

She sighed. Reporting was a difficult job, especially when she was among a huge pack of reporters all starving for the same stories. She called herself an ace reporter, and she had a right to, but this story wasn't just hers. A few other Koopas were in on the job. It irked her. She wanted a story all to herself but the editor-in-chief had decided that this incident was too big and too mysterious to just have one Koopa handle it.

"_Well then,_" she thought to herself, "_I'll just have to find a way to gather information in a way that will trump them all. I will become the best reporter in the service, just like my mother!_"

* * *

The two Juniors walked into Koopa town not thirty minutes after they had stopped. It was easy to get into town; it was still nighttime and everyone was asleep. The guards at the town gate had dozed off. The Juniors immediately made their way towards the castle.

"My papa might be asleep," said the other Junior, "So we'll have to wait until morning to talk to him." Our Junior nodded. Something struck him suddenly.

"Your papa lets you go out at night by yourself?" our Junior asked.

"Oh yeah," said the other Junior, "I have a black belt in karate. And he knows I like to take evening strolls. If I'm still gone in the morning he'll send one of my siblings to come find me, but I'm home before the end of the night most times." They arrived at the castle gates. The other Junior cracked his knuckles and knocked in a very specific and complicated pattern. A few seconds later, the doors were opened. A Koopa with a white hair, a white moustache, and a white goatee who wore butler's clothing and opaque glasses ran up to them.

"Young master!" he exclaimed, "You're back!"

"Yes I am, Koopsworth," said the other Junior, "You weren't worried about me were you?"

"Oh no, of course not," said Koopsworth, "Wait a minute. Who is this? Why are there two of you? Am I seeing double?"

"No Koopsworth," said the other Junior, "This is… what's your name again?"

"Bowser Jr.," our Junior said hesitantly, "Junior for short."

"Oh my," said Koopsworth, "You look the same, sound the same, and have the same name and everything! Are you sure I'm not seeing double here?"

"No Koopsworth," said the other Junior, "I promise, you're not seeing double. Junior here just coincidentally is my doppleganger." Koopsworth looked our Junior up and down.

"Is that so?" Koopsworth said, "My, it's as if you looked into a mirror and your reflection popped out."

"Come on in Junior," said the other Junior, "I bet you're tired. We'll give you a place to sleep. You seemed to have had a long day when I met you."

"Oh yes, of course," said Koopsworth, "I will prepare a room immediately." He rushed off.

"So?" the other Junior asked. Bowser Jr. nodded, unable to do anything else.

"Great!" said the other Junior, "Come on!" He took our Junior's hand and led him inside. The guards shut the doors behind them.

Shadias was busy moping on her throne. She had seen what had happened with Kiara on the left side of the mirror and she wasn't happy. She had told the enemy the weakness of the Shades outright and then run away instead of killing them or something.

"I knew we shouldn't have sent her!" she said to herself, "I knew it! I knew she was going to do something stupid and get us all in trouble and…"

"Shadias!" a voice pierced through the room. It was a deep and corrupted voice. Shadias sat bolt upright in her throne.

"Father, yes?" she asked in fear.

"You know I always give orders for a reason my dear," said the voice, "And of course, this one was no exception."

"Y-yes father," Shadias stammered, "But she…"

"I know what she did," said the voice, "And I know it was bad for us. But bad for us is good. Have you forgotten the lessons I have taught you? Yes, they didn't make any sense, but… you know me I should hope. I am just not ready for her to execute her orders and that is why I have not given them."

"But the longer she wanders…"

"I know what you are thinking," said the voice, "But… as you also know, it is more fun to take the risks, even if it costs us something. And besides, it is the only way we can capture _her_ and step upon the path to victory!"

"We… we couldn't just send Shelly?" asked Shadias, "Or Peter. Or…"

"Shelly has her duties here as my prison guard," said the voice, "I will only send her when I really need her. Peter… well he's on another assignment."

"What is that?" Shadias asked.

* * *

Toadbert fought the sleepiness in his eyes. He had restacked all of the books. He had found the prophecy book as well and had been reading it for about six hours. He was about halfway through; he hadn't realized how long it was. What he had found so far was extremely interesting and accurate. He turned the page again, reading faster and faster. The story was getting better by the second. As a matter of fact, he had forgotten he was reading nonfiction.

Then he turned the page again. The first words he read were 'Grand Stars'. As he read on, his eyes widened. Suddenly, he realized that he wasn't reading fiction. He stopped reading after that page and put the book on the floor in front of him.

"By boogity…" he said, "So that's what we have to do!" He bent over to continue reading but then suddenly, someone pulled him back and put something over his face. He passed out immediately.

The tall and dark figure behind allowed the blue-capped Toad to slip to the ground and then placed chloroform rag in his pocket. He picked up the book that the Toad had been reading and read the page that the Toad had last read.

"Shoot… he got pretty far," the figure said. He looked down at the Toad. His orders had been to kidnap the Toad if he had read too far into the book so that he couldn't share the information, but the figure shook his head.

"There's no way he'll remember everything," he said, "We'll be safe for now." He shut the book, placed it in a bag hanging from his shoulder, and moved towards the door of the library. He thought he heard the Toad stir behind him. He looked back but the Toad had just rolled over. He opened the library door, stepped out into the moonlight and then shut it behind him. Before he ran off, he looked up at the moon. His blue eyes shimmered and the blonde hair that stuck out from his hood was illuminated in the darkness. Then he bolted.

* * *

**A/N: And here we come to the end of another chapter, a chapter in which Mario accidentally started a forest fire, the biggest mix-up ever was initiated, and a strange figure knocked out Toadbert and stole the prophecy book. What more will add to the confusion next? And what did the prophecy book say about Grand Stars? Please leave a review! I appreciate your thoughts! I'm really enjoying writing this story and I want to know if everyone else is enjoying it as well (Though I do know some of you who are certainly enjoying this)!**


	6. Rude Awakenings

Chapter 6: Rude Awakenings

Bowser Jr. woke up the next day groggy. He couldn't think straight. He couldn't remember where he was. His memory was jogged a little when he rolled out of the bed he was lying on. The blanket entangled him and he rubbed his eyes. He pushed the blanket off of himself and rolled over on his stomach so that he could stand up. Now he could think clearly. He remembered that he had come into the castle and gone straight to bed. He looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky.

"_How late did I sleep in?_" he thought to himself. He shook off the thought. That wasn't important. He picked up his paintbrush off of the nightstand. Then there was a knock at the door, so he went to open it. When he did, he found Koopsworth standing there.

"Ah, you're awake!" Koopsworth exclaimed, "Very good, very good! Can I get you anything before your audience with the king young master… uh… other Junior?" Junior frowned at him. He didn't appreciate being called the 'other Junior'. It made him feel like he didn't belong.

"Yeah," said Junior, "Get me something to eat. I'm hungry."

"Yes, of course, young master other Junior," said Koopsworth hastily, "I'll have something ready for you in the dining hall." He ran off down the hallway. Junior gave him a dirty look, but the butler didn't seem to notice.

Junior walked into the dining hall about thirty minutes later. He had gotten lost for a little bit and had to ask a Koopa for help. The Koopa had then directed him in the wrong direction. He had been lucky to run across a sign that pointed him towards the dining hall.

"Oh there you are," said Koopsworth as he walked in, "I was worried that you'd gotten lost. Don't worry. I've kept it fresh for you." Junior sat down as Koopsworth brought out a large plate of salad. Junior scoffed as it was put in front of him.

"You got any meat?" Junior asked indignantly.

"Oh no," said Koopsworth, "We're strictly vegetarian around here. I figured that since you and young master Junior are so much alike that you would like it. I really should stop jumping to conclusions… I'm sure we have some kind of meat somewhere buried in storage. Would you like me to prepare some for you?"

"No," Junior grumbled, "I just won't eat." He got down off of the chair. "Vegetarians…" he mumbled as he left the room.

"My, who raised that boy?" Koopsworth asked himself, "Lions?"

* * *

Junior was told to wait outside the throne room for his audience with the king. Apparently there had been other appointments scheduled. The king was apparently popular for helping his people directly. The door opened and the other Junior walked out.

"Oh there you are," he said, "I guess I didn't see you in line. Come on in, but leave your paintbrush here. No weapons allowed." Our Junior gave him a reluctant look as he set the paintbrush down on the seat and walked with his doppleganger into the throne room.

As he walked in, he found that this throne room looked exactly like his own father's, except that it was colored brightly and had chandeliers instead of candles lighting the room. He didn't react as we all might have expected when he saw who was sitting on the throne. Sitting there was an exact replica of his own father, except that he had a crown on his head.

"Well, well," the king said as the doors were shut, "What have we here?" Junior didn't know how to describe it. The king looked exactly like his father, but there was an aura around him that gave off good vibes. His voice was very gentle and fatherly. He wore a regal red cloak that wrapped around him. There was no way it was his father, even if he had felt it for a second.

"Papa, this is the kid I met last night in the woods," said the other Junior, "He was lost so I brought him to you for help. It's funny isn't it? He looks exactly like me."

"I see," said the king, "Come here child. Let's have a look at you. Do you know how you got to where my son found you?"

"I… I got sucked through a mirror," said our Junior, "That's the last thing I remember happening before I woke up by a lake. Then he found me…"

"A mirror…" the king repeated suddenly, interrupting Bowser Jr.'s description of what had happened, "A mirror… oh dear…"

"Papa?" the other Junior asked suddenly concerned, "What's wrong?" The king's warm smile had turned to a straight face.

"It's happening," said the king, "The prophecy of the mirrors…"

"What?" said the other Junior, "What's that?" The king stood up on his feet and his cloak flowed to the floor.

"It is said that there is another dimension apart from ours my son," the king said, "One that is a backwards copy of our own. Everything that is good in our world is bad in that world. Everything that is bad here is good there." He looked to our Junior.

"This young lad is a sign to us," said the king, "If I may ask my boy, are you not the son of one who looks exactly like me, but commits evil deeds on a regular basis?" Our Junior just stared.

"I thought so," said the king, turning back to address them both, "All I know is that in this prophecy, the wall that separates the other side of the mirror, the reflection, from reality is broken down. The mirrors become a gateway between worlds. From both sides of the mirror, heroes rise to stop the evil that has done this. That is all I know about the prophecy." There were a few moments of tense silence. The other Junior had fixed his gaze on our Junior, who was just looking at his feet nervously. The king knelt down to both of them.

"Junior… and Junior," he said, "I need you two to go see the Seers, Sitka and Mariah. They will be able to relay more information about the prophecy to you. However, they live rather far apart. It might take a few days or maybe even a week to get to both of them. Go to Sitka first. He is closer. I trust you know the way my son? You used to visit him a lot when you were younger."

"Of course!" said the other Junior, "But what about Mariah?"

"She lives in the depths of a place called Lunar Canyon," said the king, "It is east of Thwomp Volcano. You can't miss it."

"Got it!" said the other Junior.

"Just be careful," said the king, "Don't do anything rash. And relay the information back to me when you have learned it. I believe in you two. You can do it!" The other Junior nodded eagerly. Our Junior had on his 'what-the-heck-is-going-on' face. The king hadn't addressed his main problem yet: getting his father back. And now the king was randomly expecting him to go on a quest with his optimistic and somewhat annoying counterpart?

"Are you alright Junior?" his doppleganger asked. Junior shook it off.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Good, then let's go!" the other Junior exclaimed excitedly. He grabbed Junior's arm and they ran out. Our Junior barely had time to grab his paintbrush. The king chuckled.

"That boy of mine is so eager," he said, "I hope his counterpart can keep up." Just as they had left, a Koopa peeked his head through the door.

"Sire," he said, "Officer Kendall is here to see you." The king nodded.

"Bring him in," he said. The Koopa disappeared. Kendall walked into the throne room and knelt before the king.

"My liege," he said respectfully, removing his fedora.

"Rise Kendall," said the king. Kendall did so and fit his hat back on his head. "What is it?" the king asked with a smile.

"I believe the Mario Brothers are up to something again," said Kendall.

"Oh dear…" said the king, "What is it this time?"

"Something big," said Kendall, "I caught them by Thwomp Volcano. They told me that they were after some sort of shadowy creatures. Oh, and they played good guys with me and acted like they were from another world." The king raised an eyebrow.

"I believed them," said Kendall, "And then when I took them to investigate that village that we had under surveillance, shadowy creatures attacked. I have reason to believe that the attack was their doing; the shadowy creatures took all of my officers away somewhere. I followed the Mario Brothers after they left the scene. I had my suspicions of them. Then they went and jumped into the lake and disappeared and that confirmed my suspicions; the shadowy creatures had disappeared similarly. I managed to get a note through at least warning someone where they were going about their presence. I don't know how effective that was but…"

"You're leaving something out," said the king.

"What?" said Kendall in confusion.

"Do mirrors come into play in this turn of events?" asked the king, "Surely there should have been at least mention of them."

"Well… yes… but what does that…"

"Kendall," said the king seriously, "Those weren't the Mario Brothers we know. They are from another world, one on the other side of the mirror: a reflection of our own world. What did that note say?"

"King Bowser…"

"What did it say?" the king asked again. Kendall told him the exact wording. The king sat down again.

"I hope that note didn't fall into the hands of someone who could exploit the minds of the people of that world…" said the king, "It could turn their heroes into villains. I can only hope that it fell into understanding hands."

"I'm sorry sire…" said Kendall, taking off his fedora again, "I was misled by the evidence… but sire, what are the chances that the note would fall into the hands of someone with that much power?"

* * *

Kayla woke up from her sleep refreshed. She immediately got out of bed and got ready. She swung her backpack around her back, grabbed her notebook (and reviewed her notes), and stretched. She was ready to face the day. As she walked out of the room she had stayed in, she heard a loud yell.

"WHAT!?" Kayla blinked and then headed down the hall in the direction of the voice. She entered the main hall of the castle and found that Toadsworth was hastily scanning over the morning paper. He seemed really into it.

"Mario Brothers burn down forest… arsonists… dangerous…" he mumbled. He noticed Kayla at the edge of the room and immediately ran up to her, shoving the paper in her face. She took it and began to read it.

"What is this madness!?" he yelled, "Why are the Mario Brothers being called dangerous!? Is this your doing!? Ooh… I knew we never should have let you ask questions. I knew you would turn them against our heroes! You Koopas are so spiteful but what you really don't know is that I'm sitting in a tangled mess every time your 'king' kidnaps the princess! How could you do this to us!?"

"Oh no…" Kayla moaned, ignoring Toadsworth's rant, "He did it again… who the heck is Officer Kendall T. Shellton? I've never even heard of him… is he using false sources again?"

"You're trying to cover it up aren't you!?" Toadsworth yelled, "Trying to cover up your shame for what you did!"

"I am ashamed," said Kayla, "Ashamed to work under that crazy editor-in-chief. He's always writing stuff like this. Didn't you read the paper when there was a story about the apocalypse happening?"

"No," Toadsworth said haughtily.

"Well, he wrote that too and didn't give anyone else time to look it over. He probably got a bunch of false information or mixed up facts or something. I don't even know where he got this guy as a source…" Peach walked into the room.

"What's going on?" she asked, "I thought I heard Toadsworth scream."

"Princess!" Toadsworth cried, "Well you see…"

"My boss made a big mistake," said Kayla, handing the paper to the princess, "And for that I apologize." Peach read over the story.

"Oh my… that doesn't sound like them at all…" said Peach, "Is your boss the same one who wrote that apocalypse story?"

"Yeah, that one," said Kayla, "He's always exaggerating stuff like that."

"How did I miss this?" Toadsworth whined.

"I understand," said Peach, ignoring him, "I guess I'll just have to make a public announcement to clear things up. I should probably start writing the speech right now…"

"Princess, you shouldn't go to such efforts!" Toadsworth exclaimed, "This wasn't your fault! And you have other matters to worry about!"

"Toadsworth, I'll be fine," said Peach, "I have everything under control. We should just be glad to know that the Mario Brothers are back in this world." She turned to leave but then a guard ran in.

"Mario and Luigi are back!" he exclaimed.

"Oh my!" said Peach, "Speak of the devil. Let them in."

"They're being chased by a mob princess," said the guard, "I think it's that one environmentalist group."

"Oh dear…" said Peach, "Well don't just stand there! Let them in!" The guard hurried away and seconds later, Mario and Luigi ran into the main hall, dirtier than pigs.

"Mamma Mia!" Mario cried, "First wigglers, then environmentalist mobs? Why is everyone after us?"

"Masters Mario and Luigi!" Toadsworth exclaimed, "I'll explain!"

"Or they could just read the article," said Kayla, pointing to the newspaper in Peach's hand. Peach walked up to Mario and gave him the paper. Luigi read over his shoulder.

"What!?" Mario cried, "I didn't do that on purpose! I was just trying to get rid of those shadowy crea… I mean, Shades…"

"Shades?" Peach questioned.

"Ooh, what about them?" Kayla asked, getting her notepad ready.

"Is everything about the next big story with you!?" Toadsworth yelled in annoyance.

"Shades," Mario repeated, "That's what those shadowy creatures are called."

"Where did you find that out?" asked Peach. Mario explained what had happened with Kiara and such. Peach listened intently. Kayla took notes.

"I see…" said Peach, "The poor thing… I hope she's alright. And a weakness to light? That's a breakthrough!"

"Did you not just hear him say that she is on the enemy's side?" Toadsworth outburst, "That could put us in danger!"

"I trust that her innocence will win her over," said Peach, "She did admit to Mario and Luigi the weakness of the Shades."

"In a fit of anger," Luigi added.

"And stop worrying about me," Peach continued, "I've been kidnapped on more than one occasion. If it happens again I can handle it."

"I can't…" Toadsworth moped.

"Hey, could I ask you two a coupla questions?" Kayla asked, "I'm a reporter looking for information on the incident that happened here and you seem to have…"

"THERE THEY ARE!" someone yelled, "GET 'EM!" Out of nowhere, a mob of Toads ran into the room.

"Run Luigi!" Mario yelled.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Luigi cried. They began to run. Kayla, Toadsworth, and Peach stood there like deer in headlights as the mob barreled towards them angrily. Then, out of nowhere, another Toad stepped in front of them. It was Jonathan.

The mob screeched to a halt. Mario and Luigi did as well. They turned around.

"Please don't hurt them," said Jonathan softly, "Don't you see that the princess is in the room?" All of the environmentalists seemed to suddenly notice the presence of Princess Peach. They relaxed a bit.

"Thank you," said Jonathan, looking to his feet.

"Hey, why are we listening to a little kid?" someone asked from the back of the mob.

"Yeah, those Mario Brothers burnt the forest up!" someone else yelled in agreement, "They're tree killers!" An uproar began.

"Please calm down!" Peach shouted over the crowd. The uproar stopped.

"It was all a misunderstanding," Peach continued, "The Mario Brothers didn't do anything on purpose. They merely trying to defend the kingdom from danger and something went wrong. I will be making a public announcement in two days where I will explain what is going on. Please bear with me until then." A few of the environmentalists looked back and forth and whispered among themselves. After a few moments, they left the room and, subsequently, the castle.

"You do realize how much danger this puts you in as ruler of this kingdom do you not?" Toadsworth asked.

"Toadsworth…" Peach groaned.

"What!?" Toadsworth cried, "Do you not appreciate my concern?"

"Please stop," said Kayla, who was now a bit frustrated, "Let's all just calm ourselves down and relax for a second. Especially you old man." Mario and Luigi joined them, as did Jonathan. They all breathed in and breathed out together.

"There, now don't you all feel better?" she asked.

"I'll feel better once I take a bath," said Luigi miserably, "I hated sleeping outside."

"But we do it all the time," said Mario.

"No we don't," said Luigi, "We never sleep. We usually aren't programmed to…"

"What?" Mario said in confusion.

"Never mind," said Luigi.

"Well put that aside," said Kayla, annoyed that her little activity hadn't worked, "I need questions answered. What did you find on the other side of the mirror? What are the secrets of the mirrors? Where are those Shade things coming from?"

"Whoa, slow down," said Mario, "One at a time. I can't think that fast."

"I'm kinda in a hurry," Kayla asserted.

"Well if you want your answers so badly, then why don't you go there yourself!?" Toadsworth asked loudly. Kayla's eyes lit up.

"You know, that idea doesn't sound half bad!" she exclaimed, "Thanks old man!"

"It's Toadsworth," the old Toad said haughtily, "Your welcome and good riddance." With that remark he walked away.

"I think I'll go write that speech now," said Peach, "If you want to try to open the portal again, you can use the mirror in my dressing room. I'm sure the Mario Brothers would be willing to help. Just be careful."

"Of course," said Mario.

"Whoa, I'm not going back there Mario," said Luigi, "I'm perfectly content with staying right here where not everyone is going to automatically assume that we're evil."

"I didn't say that we were going back," said Mario, "Weren't you listening just now? The reporter here wants to go through the mirror to gather information for a story."

"And I promise I won't exaggerate like my boss did," she put in, "Name's Kayla by the way. I know who you two are." She shook the hands of both Mario Brothers.

"The dressing room is that way," said Mario, pointing down one hallway, "Luigi, why don't you take her? I'll catch up."

"What do you need to be doing right now?" Luigi asked.

"Jonathan disappeared," said Mario, "I'm going to look for him." Luigi nodded and led Kayla towards that hallway. Mario looked around the hall. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm…" he said, walking towards the opposite hallway, "I wonder where he is?"

* * *

Jonathan peeked into the room he had stayed in the night prior. He shuddered as he walked in. The presence that he had felt the previous night was still there. He walked further into the room. He stopped in the middle and looked to his left. There stood a mirror. He saw his reflection there. A gust of wind suddenly blew through the room. The door shut. His eyes went wide in terror. Then the wind died down. He blinked. When his eyes opened, there was another person in the mirror with him.

"Grandpa…" he whispered. Indeed, in the mirror stood an old Toad with sunken eyes and a scraggly gray beard and moustache. His cap had red dots. Jonathan turned around but no one was there. His heart raced. His grandfather had died in a mysterious accident when Jonathan was only four. It had been eight years since then. His grandpa placed a hand on his shoulder in the mirror. Jonathan felt the touch in real life and shuddered.

"Jonny," Jonathan's grandfather said in the mirror, "You are destined for something great. You hold a power within you that is very special."

"Wh-what is it?" Jonathan stammered.

"You saw me use it in your youth," his grandpa stated, "Do you remember? The time when I took you out to the woods?" Jonathan nodded, the memory coming back to him.

"Jonathan, this power is one that has been handed down through our line for ages," said his grandfather, "Once, everyone in our family could use the power, but eventually the number dwindled. Now you are the only one left… and even if the rest of your family could use it, they're in captivity right now so…" Jonathan looked to the floor, his face darkened. A tear hit the ground.

"Now don't cry," said his grandpa, "This is why you must use this power. To rescue them. You must go forth into the mirror and find another like you. His line as well can use this power and he as well is the last of his kind in that world. You know how it is: strength in numbers!" Jonathan looked up, dried his tears, and nodded.

"Good," said his grandfather, "Any questions?"

"Yeah, how are you here?" Jonathan asked, "And how do you know all of this stuff?"

"Plot convenience?" his grandfather guessed with a shrug.

"What?" Jonathan questioned. He suddenly felt himself being pushed towards the mirror. Jonathan's grandfather disappeared but his voice rang out.

"Good luck my boy!" his grandfather's voice echoed, "And be careful!" The mirror rippled as Jonathan came closer. Then he touched the glass and vanished through the mirror.

* * *

At the same time, Mario joined Kayla and Luigi in the dressing room. Luigi was busy looking for a place to open up the portal again.

"Couldn't find him anywhere," said Mario, "I hope he's alright…"

"Mario!" Luigi exclaimed, "It's not working."

"Really?" Mario asked, "Let me try." He stepped up to the mirror, cracked his knuckles, and touched the mirror in a random spot. It immediately started rippling.

"How did you…" Luigi started. He gaped.

"Dumb luck?" Mario guessed.

"Thanks guys!" Kayla exclaimed, jumping up onto the counter of the dressing room, "I'll be sure to lay it into the editor-in-chief for you guys once this whole ordeal is over." She winked and then jumped into the mirror. It stopped rippling a few seconds later.

"I hope she'll be alright by herself," said Luigi, shaking off his surprise, "I don't want to feel like I just sent someone to their doom."

"Oh don't be a worrywart," said Mario, "Those reporter types are good with adventure and such. You remember that one reporter we met when we went back in time right?"

"Oh, you mean the one who almost got eaten by an enormous piranha plant?" Luigi asked, crossing his arms, "That's _very_ comforting Mario. _Very_."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," said Mario. He left the dressing room subsequently. Luigi followed him shaking his head, looking back at the mirror once before exiting the room.

* * *

Toadbert woke up with a throbbing head. As soon as his head cleared, he looked around and remembered what he was doing. He looked down at the floor in front of him. The book was gone.

"What!?" he cried, "But it was here and… and…" He thought frantically. The book was indeed gone. He tried to recall the events of the previous night. He remembered reading something that was particularly important. Then someone had grabbed him and he had conked out. He couldn't put his finger on what was so important at the moment, but he was sure it would come back to him as he calmed down. As such he began to try to even his breathing. Slowly, the words came back to him.

"Yes… that's it…" he said. After a few minutes, he was able to remember everything that he had read.

"By boogity, I have to get this information to the princess!" he exclaimed. He ran to leave the library but he tripped over a book before he could reach the door. He turned around to look at what he had tripped on. Subsequently, he ended up looking at all of the stacks of books that he had made. He realized he still had twenty shelves to organize still and then realized that he would have to put books back on the shelves genre-wise, alphabetically, and such and then make signs for all of them. He turned to the door again, his mind racing. What was more important? Take the information to the princess? Or organize the library? Take the information? Or organize?

After a few minutes, he sighed and walked towards the next shelf. His OCD had won over. The information would have to wait just a little while longer while the important task of organizing the town library was completed. If Toadbert's OCD were a personified character, it would have been smiling evilly.

* * *

**A/N: Poor Toadbert and Toadsworth… I'm just beating them up aren't I? Well things are starting to get interesting… the first bit of prophecy has been revealed; that the two opposing worlds are connected by the mirrors. Kayla and Jonathan now both in what is thus called the Mirror World (to them at least). Toadbert has important information to the dilemma at hand, but his evil OCD is preventing him from relaying it. And Junior and Mirror Junior are now on their own little quest. What is Jonathan's special ability? What will happen to Kayla? And how will Toadbert ever make it out of the library with his OCD plotting against him? **


	7. Kendall Up To Bat

Chapter 7: Kendall Up To Bat

Kendall walked silently. He had left Koopa Town hours before with the intention of returning home to his secret place for a rest. He had had a rough week away from home. First that entire southwestern village had been kidnapped, then he had made the biggest mistake of his career, and finally he had learned from the king that a prophecy was underway. And when a prophecy went underway, usually that meant more havoc for the police to clean up. And by the police I mean Kendall; he was pretty much the only hope the law had on that side of the mirror. Everyone else was incompetent. Well, except for the king's many children, but they were all off on assignment and several hadn't reported back in a while. They wouldn't know about the prophecy getting underway until they got back (or until some stupid plot device dragged them into it). Kendall doubted that would happen though.

He yawned heavily and looked up at the stars. He located a specific one and pointed to it. He dragged his finger across the night sky until it hit another star. He nodded.

"Just a little ways," he said to himself. He was tired. He hadn't slept much in the last few days, much less eaten. He sighed. This was the life of a busy police investigator. Especially in a time like this.

Ten minutes later, he saw his destination ahead. The level, flat ground he had been walking on turned into rocky soil. Before him was a landscape of large purple hills and cliffs. They looked as though they were an army. The hills stood tall in the front and the cliffs stood sturdy behind them, though in varying heights. What were behind the cliffs were two more sets of hills, and from there, the landscape pierced the sky upwards and turned into a mountain. Kendall had no clue how this natural structure had come to be. It was incredible to him.

He began to climb the hills. He was experienced with this and it only took him about ten minutes. Then he walked up to the cliffs and began to walk along their side, gazing up at them as he did. Eventually, he came across what seemed to be a peculiar part of the cliff: a door. Kendall smiled and then reached into his shell. He pulled out a bottle of gold powder and popped off the lid. Then he poured it all out on the ground. He proceeded to kneel down and stretch his arms. Then he raised his hands over the powder. The blue light flew from his hands and hit the pile. It suddenly flew off of the ground and into the air and started forming into something. Kendall stood up and put his hand under the ball of light. When the light cleared, a key floated into his hand. He stuck the key in the door's keyhole and turned it. The lock clicked. Kendall turned the knob and went inside, locking the door behind him.

Kendall took off his fedora and bag and put them on a coat rack. He proceeded to rub his good eye and head to his bed. He jumped upon it and immediately dozed off.

* * *

Kendall didn't know how long he had been asleep. All he knew was that there was banging at the door. He woke with a start. He heard a scream from outside.

"LET ME IN!" It was a female's voice and she sounded desperate. Kendall gave the door a funny look and then jumped out of bed to go check things out. Before he reached the door, there was another scream.

"THEY'RE GONNA TAKE ME AWAY!" Kendall backed away from the door and then looked to his shelf. The banging grew louder and more desperate. He saw a baseball bat. He raised his hand to it and it flew off of the shelf. He grabbed it out of the air. Then he swiftly approached the door. The second he opened it, the person who had been screaming ran straight in, mowing him over and knocking them both to the ground. Kendall's bat rolled across the floor. He struggled with the person who had tackled him until he finally managed to push her off and stand up.

"What the heck are you doing!?" Kendall asked in a loud voice. He got a good look at the one who had tackled him. She was a female Koopa. She looked as though she had just rolled through a pigsty; her face was dirty and there were dirty splotches all over her shell and arms. She wore a green reporter's cap and, through the dirt, he could see that she had a pink shell and hair, tied in pigtails. She was looking at him in terror.

"I… I…" she stammered. Kendall calmed down. She was probably frightened of his eye patch.

"Who's going to take you away?" he asked, a little more gently. The female Koopa, still shuddering, looked out the door. Immediately, she yelled, "CLOSE THE DOOR!"

Kendall looked out the door himself and when he did, his eye widened. He raised his hand towards his baseball bat again and it flew to him again, just in time for him to slam a shadowy creature over the head with it. He kicked the shadowy creature out of his house and then ran out himself. He found himself facing a whole legion of the things.

"Oh boy…" he said to himself. He didn't have any fire or good Mario Brothers to help him this time. He was all on his own. Luckily for him, he was on his home turf. He spun the baseball bat between his hands.

"Let's play ball buddy boys," he said slyly. The first wave of shadowy creatures charged at him. He smashed the first one that came into swinging range into one of its friends. Then, in a split second, he raised his hand over the ground before him. A rock suddenly came flying towards him, knocking over a shadowy creature as it flew. He switched to his left side and smashed a line drive right into a shadowy creature's face. He proceeded to beat the next two that got too close senseless. For the last three he raised his hand over the rocky terrain again. Three more rocks came, one after the next. He smashed the first one to the right with a lefty swing, the next one to the left with a righty swing, and jumped up to smash the third one downward. All three hit their marks. The shadowy creatures went down.

"Who's next?" Kendall asked the remainder of the legion. All of the shadowy creatures looked among each other. The looks on their faces quickly turned to glares. The rest of the legion charged at him all at once. Kendall smirked. He ran to the left and threw his bat at the first shadowy creature. The creature caught it and gave a raspy cackle at the stupid move. Kendall, however, dove into his shell and shot towards it. He slammed into the shadowy creature, dove out of his shell, and gave it a kick to the side.

He skidded on the ground and dashed back towards the legion again, this time from the left. Another shadowy creature attempted to grab his bat; he slammed into it with the back of his shell. He proceeded to swing around and pick his bat up off of the ground. He had enough time to pull back his swing and crush the next shadowy creature that got within range. It hit three more of its buddies and they all went down.

At this point, the shadowy creatures split into two groups: one that went after Kendall, and the other that went after the female Koopa he had left in his house. Kendall picked up on this immediately. He swept a shadowy creature off of its feet with his bat and grabbed it by the arm. Two more came at him. They tried to punch Kendall but he held up the shadowy creature he had captured and they hit it instead. He threw the now unconscious shadowy creature to the ground and clobbered the two that had punched it. About fifteen more shadowy creatures remained in the group that had been left to take care of him. He pulled another rock from the ground as they charged at him. He held it in front of himself for a few seconds until he had just the right angle. Then, he hit the rock at the third shadowy creature on the right. It ricocheted off of it and effectively knocked it out. The rock bounced towards the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Fourteen shadowy creatures went down from that one rock. The rock's last hit caused it to fly back towards Kendall. He caught it in midair with the powers he possessed and then grabbed it, holding it as though he was going to throw. The shadowy creature that was left panicked and fled.

Kendall dropped the rock on the ground and looked to taking care of the other group. His eye widened. They had moved faster than he had anticipated. They were already halfway across the rocky field and they had the female Koopa.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed. Kendall moved quickly. He headed for the hills, literally. He clamored to the top of the one the shadowy creatures were headed for. Counting quickly, he estimated there were at least thirty of them, if not more. He closed his eye and focused his mind. This was going to be tough, especially with the girl in the middle of it all. He raised his hands over the rocky terrain, summoning all of his willpower. His eye shot open, glowing blue. He clenched his free hand into a fist and raised it to the air. Rocks galore burst from the landscape, flying fifty feet in the air above him. His eye glinted. He gripped the baseball bat in his hand and he jumped.

The second the first rock came in, he drove it downwards. One shadowy creature went down. He switched hands and smashed another one. Another creature went down. His speed began to increase. His mind's eye was moving rapidly. He saw every movement below him. He saw every movement around him. Every pressure point. Every perfect angle. Every time he drove a rock to the earth, these factors blew through his mind. One final rock remained. He bounced off of the air to reach it. He turned to his right-handed grip, charged his swing, and swung with all of his might. He hit his mark, but his mark caught the rock somehow and skidded thirty feet from the momentum. Kendall landed on the ground, breathing hard. Whatever tiredness he had slept off had come back. The strain of the power he had used was too much.

The shadowy creature that had caught the rock walked towards him.

"You are a skilled fighter…" it said with a raspy voice, "Are you the one they call… Resourcerer?" Kendall's eye widened.

"I see…" said the shadowy creature, "Well then, I'll just have to make sure Mother Shadias keeps a close eye on you. Hehehe…" It raised its hand in the air. Kendall raised his hand to try to summon another rock from the ground, but he was too weak. Suddenly, a huge, flat purple light appeared above the terrain. When Kendall looked up, he saw that it reflected the soil below. All at once, the knocked out shadowy creatures disappeared into thin air. The purple light vanished as well. Kendall took a heavy breath, his eye still very wide from what he had just seen and done. Then, he fell to the ground and conked out.

* * *

When Kendall came to again, he found himself back in bed. He sat up, wondering if it was just a dream, but then found himself holding his paining head. Nope. That wasn't a dream. His head was still hurting. As he looked around, he saw that his house had been cleaned up. His bat was back on the shelf and what messes had been on the floor weren't there now. He took a second look. The female Koopa wasn't anywhere in sight. Maybe she had left…

Then he noticed a green cap and a backpack hanging on his coatrack along with his own stuff. He heard singing coming from his bathroom, which was the next room over. It was beautiful and melodious sound, mixed with the sound of pounding shower water. He laid his head back down and listened. She hadn't left. She was just cleaning herself up. And being the respectful gentleman Kendall was, he would allow her to do that. About five minutes later, the shower water turned off. The singing turned to humming. Ten minutes after that, the bathroom door opened and the female Koopa walked out, her hair now hanging down straight. She went over to grab her stuff. Kendall decided to speak up, rolling over on his side.

"You have a lovely voice," he said. The female Koopa turned around, startled.

"Oh… I… uh… thank you," she said, a bit flustered. Kendall sat up in bed and stretched a bit. Then he got out of bed and stretched his legs.

"Thanks for getting me back inside," he said.

"No problem," she said half-heartedly. Kendall looked at her suspiciously.

"Are you still shaken or something?" he asked. The female Koopa nodded hesitantly.

"Well that's alright," he said, "I'm just glad you're alright. The name is Kendall. What's yours?"

"Kendall…" she repeated, "Kendall…"

"What, is that your name too?" Kendall asked.

"No…" she said. Then she looked up at him. "Officer Kendall T. Shellton?" Kendall was taken aback. How did she know his whole name?

"Uh… yeah," he said, "How did you…" She slapped him across the face.

"Ow!" he yelled, "What was that for?"

"You gave my boss false sources!" she yelled suddenly, "And now the Mario Brothers are in the line of fire! What did you do that for?"

"Who is your boss?" he asked.

"Don't play dumb!" she yelled, "Your name was on the note that my boss used as a source for the story!" Kendall suddenly understood what was going on. He facepalmed himself on the inside. The note he had sent to the other world (King Bowser had confirmed his suspicions about such a thing existing) had ended up in the hands of a newspaper writer.

"Look, I can explain," said Kendall, "I thought that they were bad guys because… well… they are. Here I mean. I just made a mistake and jumped to conclusions and then this mess happened. I didn't mean for it to happen. I was just… uninformed."

"What in the world are you talking about?" the girl asked.

"What I'm trying to say is… well… this is a world completely backwards from the one I'm assuming you're from," said Kendall, "The one your Mario Brothers are from. See, the Mario Brothers we know here are bad guys. They're opposite of the ones on your side of the mirror. Am I making sense?" The female Koopa nodded slowly.

"I'm not making sense am I," said Kendall.

"No, not really," said the female Koopa, crossing her arms.

"Well… it was a misunderstanding and I'm sorry," he said, frustrated, "Okay?" There were a few moments of awkward silence. The female Koopa's arms went to her back.

"Okay…" she said softly, "I… I'm sorry. I guess I overreacted." More silence ensued. After a few moments, Kendall spoke again.

"Let's start over," he said, "My name is Kendall T. Shellton. Police investigator. What is yours?" She looked up.

"My name is Kayla Koopa," she said, "I'm a reporter."

"Good," said Kendall, "Now that that's out of the way…"

"What is a Resourcerer?" Kayla asked, interrupting him. Kendall stared at her.

"What that Shade called you," she said, hoping to clarify.

"Shade?" Kendall questioned.

"Those shadowy creatures," Kayla clarified again. Kendall nodded and then proceeded to answer her question.

"I don't see any harm in saying," he said, "A Resourcerer is someone who is able to draw from the inanimate things around them and use them to my own advantage, like what I did with the rocks. I can draw things to myself or I can morph my resources together. Unfortunately… I'm the last of my kind. I descend from a tribe that was once full of Resourcerers, but all of the families died out… except for mine. And now I'm the only one left…" He looked to the ground.

"Well you're certainly good with that baseball bat," said Kayla. Kendall looked up.

"Yeah," he said, "I played varsity baseball all four years of high school. If there were major league baseball around here, I would be in it. But there isn't, so I'm a police investigator instead."

"So you go out on cases all the time?" Kayla asked.

"I'm actually kind of in the middle of one right now," said Kendall, "I'm trying to figure out what the deal is with those… whatever you called them."

"Shades," said Kayla.

"Yeah," said Kendall, "Wait, how did you know that in the first place?"

"The Mario Brothers told me," said Kayla. She then hastily added, "Not your Mario Brothers."

"Right," said Kendall.

"Hey, so can I go with you?" Kayla asked.

"Huh?" Kendall questioned.

"When you go out to investigate," said Kayla, "I need to gather information too. I'm a reporter remember? I'm trying to write a big story on this."

"It's dangerous though," said Kendall, "They almost kidnapped you already!"

"Well if I go with you, you can protect me," said Kayla, suddenly gaining excitement, "It'll be like one of those superhero movies! You know, where the girl gets attacked and the superhero guy has to save them…"

"No, no, no," said Kendall, "This is not turning into that."

"… except for with this, you have an easier time protecting me because I'm at your side the whole time," Kayla continued, ignoring him.

"Kayla…" Kendall groaned, "Don't you understand how risky this is?"

"Of course!" Kayla exclaimed, "But I'm a reporter! I have to take risks to get the scoop! That's what my mom always said anyways. 'The bigger the risk, the better the scoop!' Good ol' mama..."

"You're 'mama' was crazy apparently…" Kendall muttered, "Fine, you can come with me. But none of this damsel in distress stuff. This isn't a stage musical. Or a movie! Or a fantasy story!"

"Yes!" Kayla exclaimed excitedly, "And actually, it kind of is. Let's go!"

"It's the middle of the night!" Kendall cried.

"No it's not," said Kayla, "You slept through the middle of the night. Granted I have no clue what you call the middle of the night around here. Your time is kind of backwards like everything else. But the sun is on the horizon so it's not the middle of the night."

"Do you ever stop talking?" Kendall asked in annoyance as Kayla ran for the coat rack.

"This is about the story of a lifetime," said Kayla, turning around, "And you have no idea what that means to me."

"_Geez,_" Kendall thought as he rolled his eyes, "_It's like she just forgot what happened last night…_" That thought aside, he followed her to the door, grabbing his stuff on the way as well. He pulled the key out of his pocket, shut the door, and locked it behind him. Then he dissolved it back into gold powder and put back in the bottle. That done, they began to walk away from the cliffs and towards the sunrise in the east.

* * *

Luigi sat on the bed of the guest room that the Mario Brothers always had reserved in the castle. He was watching the sunset solemnly. He had been thinking a lot about what was going on and how scared he was. He wondered just where all of those kidnapped Toads had been taken if they hadn't been taken to the Mirror World.

Mario came into the room.

"Hey Luigi," he said. Luigi turned around.

"I seriously can't find Jonathan anywhere," said Mario, "I've looked all over town. I even looked in the library. Toadbert's in there, still looking for stuff I guess. He seemed to be reorganizing it."

"You didn't knock?" Luigi asked.

"Nah," said Mario, "I think he's fine. And I'm sure Toadbert would have sent Jonathan back by now if the kid had gone there…"

"Did you check the room he was staying in?" Luigi asked.

"No, not yet," said Mario, "I'll go ask around to see if I can find out which one. Give me a few minutes and I'll be back."

"I've got all the time in the world," said Luigi as Mario left. Luigi slumped back onto the bed. His mind went to thinking about how much of a coward he was. Yeah, sure, he'd saved his brother from a couple of haunted mansions. But for the most part, he was scared out of his wits. Worried about everything.

As he pondered ways he could become stronger, Mario came back into the room, a serious look on his face.

"Luigi," he said. Luigi stood up, seeing the look on his brother's face.

"What happened?" Luigi asked.

"There's a mirror in Jonathan's room," said Mario. Luigi stared at him.

"But… they would have attacked the rest of the castle," Luigi said, "That doesn't make any sense…"

"It's still possible," said Mario, "I mean… what if he has some special power we don't know about?"

"Come on Mario," said Luigi, "Stop trying to foreshadow things. He's probably just moving around a lot and that's why you can't find him."

"Luigi," said Mario, "We have to go back through the mirror."

"Mario!" Luigi cried, "Why!? If he was taken by those things, he won't be in the other world!"

"We have to try to find him Luigi," said Mario, "We're the heroes and he's our responsibility because of that fact. And… I didn't tell you this, but six more mobs came by the castle today looking for us. I think it would be better for Toadsworth's health if we weren't here." Luigi stared at him yet again.

"You know, I hate it when every option is a bad one," said Luigi, "At least tell Toadsworth so he doesn't flip out."

"Of course," said Mario, "Why would I not?"

* * *

Jonathan peeked around a large rock and then pulled back immediately. They were still after him and they were hot on his trail. He minimized his breathing as much as his twelve year old lungs could handle.

"Footsteps over here!" a voice called. He heard stamping feet behind the rock. He frantically observed the area around him. He saw nothing of use. He frantically searched inside of his vest. His hand touched something metallic. He pulled out a slinky. It bounced once.

"What was that!?" a voice questioned from behind the rock. Jonathan held his breath.

"Check over there," said another voice. Jonathan looked at the slinky intently. He tried to remember how his grandpa had done it. He shut his eyes tightly. The voices came closer.

"I think he's here," said one voice from right around the rock. Suddenly, something in Jonathan's head clicked. He gripped the slinky harder. His eyes shut tighter. Then, his eyes opened again. They were tinted blue.

"There he is!" one voice yelled. Jonathan gripped his slinky, stood up, and began to fight.

* * *

**A/N: Our two Koopas have met and teamed up. And we've gotten to see Kendall in real action! That was fun to write. And now Mario and Luigi are going to be headed back through the mirror to look for Jonathan, who is being chased by some mysterious enemies that are not Shades (because their voices are not raspy). What dangers await Kayla and Kendall as they look for clues to figure out what the deal with the Shades is? Who is chasing Jonathan? And what did our young Toad friend just do?**


	8. Doubting

Chapter 8: Doubting

Bowser Jr. and his mirror copy had rested for the night on the road and then started off towards Sitka's "secret place" as Mirror Junior called it, early the next morning. They were currently crossing a wide river via bridge. Junior was not enjoying himself. All he could think about was where his father was. He wasn't focused on where he was stepping and almost stepped into the water. Luckily, Mirror Junior was there to catch him.

"Careful," said Mirror Junior, "The current will sweep you away." Junior waited until Mirror Junior had turned to continue walking before giving him an annoyed glare. He was tired of following this doppelganger. He had only ever listened to his own father and that was it. He wasn't really sure why he was even doing this: that is, going on some random quest to get information about a prophecy that Junior didn't really even care about. As a matter of fact, going on this quest aligned him with the good guys, or so he thought. He began to have serious doubts about what he was doing.

"It's just a few miles ahead," said Mirror Junior, "Just over those hills. You'll know it when you see it."

"Hey," said Junior, "Wait a minute." Mirror Junior turned around.

"Something wrong?" he asked with concern.

"No…" said Junior, "I've just been thinking. I didn't get to ask your papa how to find my papa." Mirror Junior thought for a second.

"Oh," he said, "I talked to him about it before you walked in. He didn't say much… just gave me a look. You know… a… well… uh… a look. Like… what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Suspicion?" Junior guessed.

"Yeah, that!" said Mirror Junior, "I don't think he knew anything about where your papa could be. I'm sorry. I really should have said more."

"So you lied to me," said Junior, "You said he would know what to do."

"Well… he usually does," said Mirror Junior becoming a bit more quick with his words, "Come on, Sitka's place is right past these hills."

"No," said Junior demandingly, "I want answers. I need answers. I need to know where my papa is." He began to reach for his paintbrush.

"Let's not get hasty here," said Mirror Junior frantically, "Maybe Sitka will know. He is a great Seer. He knows a lot of things and he can see the future." Junior's hand lowered. Mirror Junior calmed down.

"Look, I'm really sorry that your papa got kidnapped," said Mirror Junior, "And I probably should have brought that up to my papa again with you present. But I really don't think he knew anything. Please. I don't want to fight you. Just bear with me, at least to talk to Sitka. Then you can go and find your papa." Junior looked to his feet. He almost started to cry again. Mirror Junior put a hand on his shoulder.

"I promise," he said, "Your papa will be fine. No matter where he is." Junior looked up.

"Yeah…" he said. Deep down, as they started walking again, he wondered truly how his father was doing, wherever he was. In the same deep down part of his soul, the doubts he had about his mirror remained. They were only growing stronger.

* * *

Shelly stepped into the prison hall casually and began walking through. On all sides, prisoners looked out from behind the bars at her, some hatefully, some in defeat. Others slept mournfully. Shelly felt a mix of emotions as she walked through. She didn't wish for these people to be so miserable; she was just following orders. But at the same time, another part of her found it entertaining to see these people without hope.

She quickly threw dirt on the latter's fire, putting out the thought. It was that dark part of her speaking again: the part that each and every one of her siblings contained within them. It was a powerful urge of darkness within their souls, one that all of them lived with. Kiara's soul was split the most by the urge. Shadias lived for that urge. Peter was like her; he questioned it but went along with orders. Her other sister… she put the thought out of her mind. She didn't wish to frighten herself.

She turned the corner into another prison block. This one was fairly empty, except for a few prisoners towards the beginning of the hall and at the end. One lone prisoner sat cross-legged in the middle cell on the left side of the block. Shelly walked up to the cell and he looked up. He was a Koopa with goggles and a tall mess of green hair. His shell was green as well and was spiked naturally. He dropped what he had been playing with and walked to the front of the cell.

"Can't get enough of me I see," he said with a weak smile.

"Don't waste your breath," she said, smiling herself, "You're going to need it."

"Where's my family again?" he asked.

"Down the hall a bit further," Shelly replied, "We separated all of you so that you couldn't… devise some sort of plot to escape. We had been watching every movement before we started kidnapping. You and your family were slippery ones. So we separated you."

"Clever," said the Koopa on the other side of the bars, "You know we'll get out eventually though."

"No you won't," she said.

"Yes we will," he said, "And I'll be the first. My plan is already working. You know you like me. That's why you keep coming back."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," said Shelly, "Perhaps I'm just coming to make sure you aren't causing any trouble. I've seen how good you are with those little machines… which you aren't going to get working by the way. My father only allowed you that little entertainment because there is no way you will get out using just what you've got."

"Those trinkets aren't even a part of my plan," he said, "And even if my plan fails, we will still escape. Someone is bound to come and rescue us. No matter how much I don't like the idea, someone will come."

"The chances of that happening are slim," said Shelly knowingly, "We're watching every move of those two bozos. They're not even trying to find this place. And even if they do try, we'll sic the Doom Army on them. They won't stand a chance. Trust me Iggy, you won't get out of here. No matter how handsome you are." She began to walk away, pleased with herself. Iggy spoke up behind her.

"I know you like me," said Iggy, "And when the day comes that we are all rescued and this 'Doom Army' of yours is defeated… well, if you flee, I will chase you and find you and bring you back home with me."

Shelly didn't turn around.

"That's touching," she said mockingly, "I'll wait for the day eagerly." She smiled the whole way out. Iggy just sat back and sighed. He was perhaps the only one in that dark place with any shred of hope.

* * *

Mario and Luigi's entrance into the Mirror World was punctuated by falling flat on their faces out of a window. Mario got up and dusted himself off. Luigi lied on the ground.

"Mamma Mia…" he muttered, "I think I broke something…"

"You're fine Luigi," said Mario, pulling him up by the arm and dusting him off, "We have plot protection on our side." Luigi sighed and stood up to stretch his arms.

"Mario," he said, "Why won't you answer my question? How are we going to find Jonathan in this huge world?"

"I already told you," said Mario, "I don't know. But I have faith in our luck and the flow of the plot."

"Mario, please stop," said Luigi, "You're making me question reality."

"Sorry," said Mario, "Anyway, let's…" The door of the house behind them suddenly swung open.

"MY GOODNESS!" the person who had opened the door yelled loudly, "IT'S THEM MARIO BROTHERS!" The person who had opened the door was an old Toad with a yellow cap that had white spots. He held a staff five times his size in his hand. It had gotten stuck in the door. The old Toad hadn't seemed to notice. He had a long white beard that he should have been tripping over as he walked over to Mario and Luigi, who were looking at him in shock. He squinted at them.

"YEEUP!" he exclaimed, "THAT'S THEM! COME ON IN BOYS AND HAVE SOME TEA!" Mario and Luigi had to cover their ears. Mario weakly nodded and they followed the old Toad inside. He shut the door behind them and his staff fell out of the doorframe and onto his head. He was hit and knocked out. Mario ran to help him but he jumped up and hit Mario in the face with his head. Mario reeled backwards.

"THERE I GO AGAIN!" he yelled, "DROPPIN' MY STAFF EVERYWHERE!" Mario and Luigi covered their ears again.

"Could you please quiet down?" Luigi asked as politely as possible.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" the old Toad screamed. Mario and Luigi both put a finger over their mouths and made the shushing noises.

"OH!" the old Toad yelled, "LET ME JUST GET MY HEARING AIDS!" He did so as Mario and Luigi continued to cover their pounding ears. He put them in.

"Ah, there we go," he said, "Sorry, I'm nearly deaf. Oh yes, the tea. Please have a seat boys." As he walked away, he squealed, "I can't believe I'm hosting the Mario Brothers!" Mario and Luigi gave each other confused looks. Five minutes later, the old toad returned to the table and jumped up onto a seat with the platter of teas and such.

"So how has the usurping been going boys?" the old toad asked before taking a big gulp of tea. Mario and Luigi looked at each other again. They had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on.

"It's… going fine," said Mario.

"Ah, good, good," said the old Toad, "That is good news. That peace-loving dictator Bowser won't know what hit him once the princess gets her hands on the throne." He took another big gulp of tea and then reached for the teapot to fill his cup again. Mario and Luigi looked on with disgust.

"You see," he said, "I know just about everything there is to know about the history of this kingdom. I know the princess has always had plans to take over the kingdom and turn it into her own personal utopia, ever since she was a baby. She had you two to help her. My goodness you two are godsends. Definite disciples of our fascist princess for sure!" Mario and Luigi again gave each other nervous glances.

"Uh… I think we should be leaving," said Mario, "The… uh… fascist princess had summoned us and we were just… uh… resting our feet."

"Oh, I won't stop you," said the old Toad, "I do hope you enjoyed the tea. Oh, and I heard that earlier this morning, a young Toad went rogue and beat up a faction of the royal guard. Is that what you two are after?" Mario and Luigi didn't glance at each other this time and not because the action was getting tiring. They had to get out there.

"Drop by again sometime!" the old Toad yelled as they left, waving his huge staff.

* * *

"Fascist princess?" Luigi asked Mario in confusion once they were out of the old Toad's hearing range, "What in the world?"

"This entire world is a mirror of our own Luigi," said Mario, "You've got to remember that. What in the world does 'fascist' mean anyway? It sounds like a word some kid came up with."

"Sounds pretty evil to me," said Luigi.

"Forget about it," said Mario, "We have to find Jonathan." Five minutes of walking later, Mario stopped.

"Mario, what's wrong?" Luigi asked.

"Did that old Toad say that Jonathan beat up an entire faction of the royal guard?" Mario asked.

"Yeah," said Luigi, "So what? The royal guard sucks."

"Mirrors Luigi," said Mario, "Think. The royal guard in this world is probably great. And Jonathan beat a whole faction of them up."

"Mario, we still don't even know that it was Jonathan he was talking about," said Luigi, "If Jonathan is in this world at all… And that old coot was crazy. He mistook us for the evil Mario Brothers. That makes him like a stupid video game character. What makes you think he's even telling the truth?" There was a scream suddenly, and not from the house behind them. They both turned in the direction of the scream. As they looked through the trees, they saw figures moving. They vanished behind another tree. Mario nodded to Luigi and they began to run into the foliage towards the moving figures. They hadn't gotten twenty feet before something barreled into them and knocked them to the ground. When Mario opened his eyes, Jonathan was lying on his chest.

"Over there!" a voice yelled from nearby.

"Run guys!" Jonathan cried, "Get up and run!" Mario didn't hesitate and jumped to his feet. Jonathan was frantic. Someone was coming. As he held Jonathan close and as Luigi got up, he saw that Jonathan was holding a long metal object. Mario put together that it was an uncoiled slinky.

"_How did he do that?_" Mario thought to himself.

"Mario!" Luigi yelled. Mario turned to Luigi.

"No!" Luigi yelled, "Behind you!" Mario turned around and was punched in the face. The punch effectively threw him to the ground at Luigi's feet. Jonathan buried his head in Mario's overalls. Mario observed his attacker with a glare: a Toad holding a club in his left hand. Eight more joined him. They all loosened their glares just for a few seconds to scan Mario and Luigi. Then the glares returned. Mario gave Jonathan to Luigi and stood up.

"Run Luigi," said Mario, "I'll catch up. These guys aren't stupid."

"But Mario…" Luigi started.

"Go!" Mario yelled, "It is our unnecessary duty to keep him safe!"

"You make no sense sometimes…" Luigi muttered as he started to run. Mario pulled a Boomerang Flower out of his overalls and squeezed it. He immediately donned a Boomerang Bro suit.

"Bring it," he said, spawning a boomerang. And the battle began.

* * *

**A/N: For starters, I want to apologize to anyone who thought Iggy was seriously out of character. This is the only time we'll see him in the entire story, so don't get all worked up about it. Anyway, this was a shorter chapter because I didn't have very many ways to drag it out. We've seen that Junior is having doubts about his current position. We've also seen Mario and Luigi deal with a bunch of trouble not twenty minutes into heading back into the Mirror World. What will be the outcome of this fight between Mario and the nine Toads? What will happen between Bowser Jr. and his mirrored self? **

**I hope those of you who read the mess called The Mage of Thunder enjoyed the bit of Iggy and Shelly fluff in this chapter. Again, I apologize if Iggy was extremely out of character. **


	9. The Situation Grows Worser

Chapter 9: The Situation Grows Worser

The first Toad sprung at Mario, holding his club as though a baseball bat. Mario rolled under him and was met with the other eight, all ready to spring upon him. They circled him, as though daring him to move. Mario pulled a boomerang out of thin air and threw it over their heads. From behind him, one of the Toads charged. He backflipped over the Toad's head and landed on the Toad's club, bouncing off of it and landing five feet away. The first Toad now charged him from the right. The other seven Toads came at him from his front.

Mario ducked the club of the Toad to the right (who was significantly closer) and then grabbed the returning boomerang out of the air. He quickly proceeded, now that he was in a better spot, to throw the boomerang at the nearest Toad. It knocked him down and ricocheted off of two more of the Toads before falling to the ground. Five of the other six got into a 'V' formation and charged at Mario. The sixth grabbed Mario's boomerang and threw it over his allies.

Mario ran straight at the two dangers headed at him. He dove into the shell of the Boomerang Bro suit and began rolling. The boomerang passed over him as he bowled into the first three Toads of the 'V'. The other two ducked out of the way. Mario dove out of his shell three feet from the Toad that had thrown the boomerang, flipped, and kicked the Toad into a nearby tree. He turned to face the other two, who were brandishing their clubs threateningly. Mario merely scoffed. He pulled two more boomerangs from nowhere. At that moment, however, the Toads that had already taken hits began to get up.

"Come now," said the first one, "You didn't think you'd take us down that easily did you? You're looking at members of Princess Peach's elite force!"

"You're an imposter," said another Toad, "Probably meant to fool us. But we're not stupid. You're aligned with those insidiously disgusting Koopas."

"Koopas," another said with disgust, "Scum of the earth those turtles are." Out of the corner of his eye, Mario saw the Toad he had kicked into a tree stand up.

"Even if you're not," that Toad said, "You're defending that mischievous traitor to Princess Peach's empire. That makes you an enemy nonetheless." The Toads all picked up their clubs and prepared to circle him again. Mario gripped his boomerangs tighter.

"Why were you chasing that Toad?" Mario asked firmly as they eyed him threateningly.

"We can tell a traitor when we see one," said one of the Toads, picking up his club and holding it menacingly, "That's why we're the elite force." There was a slight pause as the other Toads surrounded Mario.

"Drop the boomerangs," said the Toad who had attacked first. Mario reluctantly bent over to lay the boomerangs on the ground. He stood up again.

"Good," the Toad said, "Any last words before you are silenced?"

"Yeah," said Mario holding up three fingers, "Three. Two. One."

"HIIIIIYAAAH!" The Toads, shocked looked around in a panic. One of them was suddenly slammed in the side by something and thrown ten feet. Luigi landed on the ground five feet from the group. Jonathan wasn't anywhere in sight.

"I knew it," said Mario, "I knew you wouldn't listen to me."

"No matter how cowardly I am," said Luigi, who was now wearing a Hammer Bro outfit, "It will always be no Mario Brother left behind." He pulled two hammers from behind him.

"Time to rock," he said. He ran at the Toads, who immediately jumped back into action. Mario grabbed his boomerangs and ran at Luigi. He frontflipped over his brother and threw the boomerangs at the Toads below. One slammed into its target. The other missed and hit a small tree. The impact was so strong that the tree fell over and caused two of the Toads to dive out of the way. Luigi slammed a hammer in the face of the first Toad he got close to. He threw another at a Toad that was scampering up from avoiding at the tree. He hit the Toad right in the head.

Mario kicked the other scampering Toad into the air. Luigi jumped up and slammed him to the ground. When Luigi landed, three more Toads were running at him from all sides. Mario kicked another Toad and then dove into his shell, spinning across the ground at top speed. He collided with the first Toad and bounced off to hit the second. The second Toad batted him at Luigi. Luigi spin kicked Mario in midair and he flew at the third Toad, running the Toad into another tree. Luigi, landing on the ground, threw a hammer at the Toad that had hit Mario and knocked him out.

Two Toads out of the eight that had been injured got up. Neither bro seemed to notice that the ninth was missing. The two remaining Toads circled Luigi, clubs in hand. Luigi held two hammers warily. Then he saw Mario diving into his shell again. Mario was heading straight for him. The Toads started to charge. Luigi stopped Mario's shell with his foot and kicked his brother right into the first of the two. Luigi then turned around and met the other Toad's club with his hammers.

The Toad slid his club out of the lock. He tried swinging it again, but Luigi blocked his strike. Luigi pushed back against the next strike and managed to make the Toad lose his balance. He proceeded to slam both hammers into the Toad's noggin. The Toad was smashed into the ground. Luigi spun his hammers like pistols and stowed them away. Mario ran up to him.

"Where's Jonathan?" Mario asked frantically.

"I hid him in the bushes a little ways down the path," said Luigi.

"There were nine Toads Luigi," said Mario, "The ninth one is missing." Luigi counted quickly. He found that his brother was right.

"Let's go," said Mario. Luigi nodded and they started running. Not fifteen seconds later, they tripped over something and landed flat on their faces. Their power-ups went away automatically. Toads suddenly came out of the foliage and began tying them up. They were stood up and found themselves looking at a large group of Toads with sticks, clubs, and a large array of weapons of the sort pointed at them. Another walked through the line holding Jonathan by his shirt.

"Looking for this kid?" he asked with a smirk. Jonathan's eyes were terrified. He didn't look like he could speak if he wanted to.

"You two are dangerous," the Toad said, "As is this kid. He's got some special power. Until we find out what it is…"

"Wait, back up," said Mario suddenly, "What special power?"

"You have the right to remain silent you con!" the Toad yelled, "You can wait until the Princess decides what to do with you!" He turned to his company.

"Some of you go help our brothers!" he ordered, "The rest, follow me back to the capitol." About half of the Toads ran down the path. The rest started moving, falling in line behind the other Toad. Mario and Luigi were forced along with the group. A growing sense of dread suddenly came upon both of their minds. What was going to happen?

* * *

Kendall and Kayla stopped to rest their feet about three hours after they had started walking. They were on a search for more Shades so that they might catch one and interrogate it (since Kendall had just discovered that they could speak). Kayla had, thankfully, calmed down after about ten minutes. Once she had, Kendall found that she was a lot more enjoyable to be around. He enjoyed her company. It was a lot more satisfying than travelling alone.

"So why did you become a police investigator?" Kayla asked as they sat down next to a tree.

"Mostly because I had a strong sense of justice and nothing else to do," he answered, taking off his fedora and dusting it off, "And because of this." He pointed at his eye patch.

"What about it?" asked Kayla.

"It was a gift from those insidious Mario Brothers," he said, putting his fedora back on. He added quickly, "Not yours."

"Right," said Kayla with a small chuckle.

"Anyway, when I was really little, or so my parents tell me, they attacked my hometown," he said, "I was almost kidnapped, but I was saved by someone. I don't know who, but it wasn't before they had burned my eye out. I've only had one eye since." Kayla was silent. She looked down at her feet.

"What?" he asked.

"That's just… so hard to believe," Kayla said softly.

"It wasn't the Mario Brothers you know," said Kendall.

"No, it's not that," she said, "I said I want to take risks right? Well, to tell you the truth, I've stayed as far away from those jobs as possible. I… I had never really been in the face of danger until the Shades almost kidnapped me. I hadn't realized how dangerous the world can be, how corrupted people can be, until I got into this. Everyone, my parents, the editor-in-chief… just… everyone, always told me these unbelievable things that had happened to them, and I didn't believe them until last night." Kendall saw a tear drop to the ground. He put hand on her shoulder.

"You know what?" Kendall said, "Sometimes the world will throw you a million curveballs at once. Sometimes you'll take a risk and you'll lose something. But what does it matter if you live through it? Sometimes you just have to sing your heart out and let it go." Kayla looked up at him and smiled a little.

"Yeah…" she said softly. Kendall jumped up and closed his eye. He reached his hands out and focused. In each of his hands, something started to form as material flew towards his hands from everywhere. Kayla watched in awe. About five minutes later, he was holding a full-sized violin and bow in his hands.

"Well, then come on!" Kendall exclaimed, moving his bow to the other hand.

"You… play it?" Kayla asked as he offered his free hand to her. He helped her up.

"I had a few lessons," he said, "I might be rusty though." He began to play and then stopped.

"Ugh…" he said, holding the violin to face him, "I thought I asked it to tune itself…" He turned the pegs a few times and then dragged the bow across the strings again. Then he began to play. The melody was quick but smooth. Kayla automatically began to sing along to it. The blend of the instrument and her voice was harmonic and beautiful. The world around the two of them seemed to melt away as the duet flowed along. A dance ensued as the two of them circled around each other, light on their feet. Then, as quickly as it had started, the song ended.

Kendall let the violin rest at his side.

"That was amazing!" Kayla exclaimed.

"Thanks," Kendall said, blushing a little, "Though you should be saying that to yourself. Really. Your voice is-"

He was suddenly cut off as a Shade burst from the shadows and grabbed Kayla, muffling her. Kendall immediately kicked the Shade. When that didn't work, he slammed his Resourcery made violin into its head. The Shade was knocked unconscious to the sound of breaking violin strings and fell in the middle of the path.

Kayla stumbled towards Kendall crying. He embraced her in his arms comfortingly as the Shade twitched on the ground. It wasn't dead, but it was definitely out. It would be a bit before it would wake up and Kendall could question it. He looked towards where the Shade had come from, expecting more to appear. After thirty seconds of nothing, he turned his attention to Kayla, who was crying into his shell.

"It's alright," he said as soothingly, "It was just that one." She didn't respond. After a few moments, he realized that she was whispering to herself.

"Ti pac gauren'ni Kendall," she whispered, not opening her eyes, "Ti pac gauren'ni. Mi sita tempr'tad…"

"What?" Kendall asked. Kayla opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"I'm scared," she said, trembling. Kendall held her tighter. She didn't calm down for another five minutes.

"I… I think I'm okay now…" she said moving away from him. Kendall, legitimately worried, watched as she took a few steps away from him. She seemed to take notice of the Shade in the middle of the path.

"How… how long has it been lying there?"

"I'd say about six minutes," said Kendall. Kayla looked profoundly confused.

"Why… why…"

"He almost kidnapped you that's why!" Kendall almost yelled. Kayla shook her head and turned around to face him.

"Why hasn't he disappeared?" Kendall just stared at her.

"Huh?" he said simply.

"They… they said that they disappeared… when... when light hit them…" she said, "So why…"

"Who?" Kendall asked. Before he could get an answer, the shade started to glow. Then, it let out a piercing scream and disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Kayla made her way over to Kendall again.

"The Mario Brothers," Kayla said, "The ones I know." Kendall stared at the spot where the Shade had been lying. He wondered why it had taken eight minutes for it to disappear when hit with…

"Sunlight," Kendall said suddenly, "That's it. It takes eight minutes for them to disappear in sunlight because that's about how long it takes for new light to filter in through the atmosphere." Kayla nodded slowly, clearly confused.

"Don't you see?" Kendall asked, "There must be different velocity ratios based on what type of light is hitting them. If we can find the fastest travelling light… then we can get rid of them faster!" Kayla still looked confused.

"Uh… could you explain that in English?" she asked.

"And that's why they're so afraid of fire!" Kendall exclaimed, ignoring her with a huge smile on his face, "Because it produces light! And that light moves faster! I wonder what that ratio is…"

"Kendall!" Kayla snapped. Kendall looked over at her.

"Yeah?" he said, snapping out of his daydream.

"We should probably go," she said.

"Oh, uh, right," he said, "Stay close." As they started walking again, Kendall started talking again. Kayla rolled her eyes at every comment. Now she understood what he had felt. She could only hope he would shut up just as fast.

* * *

"Thank you for the report Commander," said Shadias, "You may return to the Shade quarters."

"Yes mother," the reporting Shade said, "And I trust you will have this… Resourcerer taken care of?"

"That, soldier, is none of your concern," Shadias glared, "You are a very high-ranking Shade in my army. Don't make me have to strip you of your status because of your nosiness."

"That won't be necessary mother," it said, not breaking a sweat, "I shall return to my quarters now." He left the room. Shadias slumped back into her chair again. She hated this job. But at the same time she loved it. She too was afflicted with confliction. She wanted so hard to please the dark side of herself, the side of her father, but her other half had come from a benevolent source. There was no way around it except for resistance.

As she mulled over her thoughts, she suddenly felt a presence. She sat bolt upright in her chair, suddenly terrified. Dark lightning suddenly pulsed from the ceiling. It struck the center of the room several times. When the lightning disappeared, a darkly cloaked man was standing there. A hood covered his entire face. Only his hands were visible.

Shadias remained deathly silent, her eyes wide and her breaths short.

"Father…" she said in terror. She couldn't muster any other words.

"What, is that all you have to say to my cliché villain entrance?" the cloaked man said, "Booooring. Come now, I thought I had better wits than that? Or are those your mother's genes speaking in you? Or are you just so happy to see me that you can't say a word?"

Shadias remained silent and terrified.

"Oh don't worry," the man said, "You're not in trouble. Everything is going according to plan. I've just decided that we need to have a little more fun with our world domination."

"F-fun?" Shadias.

"Yes," said the man, "Have you not heard the meaning of the word before?"

"I… I have but… what do you mean?" she asked, shuddering at what her father might have thought up.

"Oh, it's a very good idea," he said, "I've brought your sister with me!" Shadias shrank back into her chair immediately, her eyes growing ever wider. Her white hair became frazzled and her palms began to sweat, getting her black dress wet. Her father wasn't lying. She saw something moving beneath his cloak.

"F-f-father…" she said, utterly terrified, "I-i-isn't th-that a b-b-bit m-m-much?"

"Now why would you think that?" the man said, "Come on out Beki." The thing moving beneath his cloak came out. It was a blindfolded female Toad. Her color scheme was blood red and white. Shadias tried to shrink even further into her chair.

"Father, is that Shadias?" the Toad said with a disturbing smile on her face, "That is Shadias right? Please let me go to her. I want to talk to her. It's been so long…"

"N-N-NO!" Shadias screamed, "KEEP HER AWAY FROM ME!"

"Now Beki, go give your sister a hug," he said, clearly smiling underneath those dark robes.

"Yes father," said Beki, beginning to walk up the steps to Shadias. Shadias hid her face in her hands and looked away. She could feel Beki coming closer.

"Hold on Beki," he said, "I don't think your sister is particularly ready to see you again."

"Okay," said Beki. Shadias looked up. Beki retreated to her father's side.

"You kids just can't take a joke," he said. Shadias couldn't find any words.

"Have Peter burn the prophecy book as soon as possible," he said, "Also, Kiara should mobilize first thing tomorrow. The princess is making a public speech. We shall strike terror into the hearts of that land once their princess is kidnapped. And if that isn't enough…" He gestured to Beki, who was playing with her blindfold.

"Y-yes father," Shadias said straightening up, "I will give the orders."

"Good," he said, "You know, I like speaking to you in person. It's so much more fun to see you react." With that, he disappeared into thin air. Beki wandered out of the room on her own. Shadias slumped back into her chair and started crying into her hands.

* * *

**A/N: First of all, I apologize if I scared anyone with the last scene. I say this because I just about scared myself writing it. I also apologize if this chapter seemed extremely dark. So anyway, troubles are certainly brewing. The Mario Brothers have been captured, along with Jonathan, by the forces of Mirror Peach! The bad guys are preparing for a kidnapping. We've gotten a glimpse of our villain: a man in a dark cloak. And now for the questions: What will happen to the Mario Brothers? What will come next for Kayla and Kendall? And what about Beki is so terrifying?**

**A cookie shall go to anyone who caught the Frozen reference in there. **


	10. What Lies Ahead

Chapter 10: What Lies Ahead…

"There it is!"

Bowser Jr. nearly collapsed at the top of the hill. When his mirror counterpart had told him a few hills, he had expected two or three small slopes. Nope. These hills were nearly fifty feet high. It had taken them two hours to finally reach the top of the last one, which overlooked a small jungle which connected to a beach and then an ocean.

"'bout time…" Junior coughed. He looked down the hill and his face contorted. What he saw was confusing. There were about twenty posters with strange and abstract pictures on them hanging… on nothing. They seemed to be floating in midair.

"What…" Junior said as he stood up.

"Come on!" said Mirror Junior, running down the hill. Junior rolled his eyes and tiredly dragged his feet all the way down. He was too tired to care that there were pictures in fixed places in the air. Mirror Junior waited for him at the bottom.

"Hurry up!" Mirror Junior urged. Junior was about ready to snap. As nice as his mirror was… actually, no. He hated that too. He hated the optimistic aura about his mirror. He hated how 'good' he was. He couldn't stand the guy. And yet for some reason, he stuck around. He didn't know why. And he didn't care. He held himself in as he reached the bottom of the hill. Mirror Junior walked right up to the strange pictures and put his hand out. Junior watched curiously. Then Mirror Junior's hand was stopped in midair.

Junior watched, a little surprised now, as Mirror Junior pushed on the air. His hand didn't budge. He then proceeded to drag his hand along what seemed to be an invisible wall. He finally stopped in one spot and knocked on the invisible wall. A few seconds passed. Then suddenly, an invisible door cracked open.

"Who's there?" someone asked from inside. Junior took a step back.

"It's just me Sitka," said Mirror Junior. The door opened wider to reveal a wizened old Koopa with messy and poofy white hair and a scraggly long beard. He was blue and his shell was red.

"Ah, the prince," said the Koopa named Sitka, taking a small bow, "And who is this…" He stopped mid-sentence as his gaze settled on Bowser Jr.

"Oh," he said, "I see. Come in. We have things to talk about I'm sure." He opened the door all the way to let the two Koopalings in. As they walked in, he walked out and observed some of the pictures. Junior observed as he looked among them and then selected one, pulling it off of the invisible wall and heading back to the door.

"Come along," he said, ushering Junior in. He shut the door behind them.

The inside of the invisible place was very roomy. A fireplace danced on one side of the room. Shelves of books and china lined the other. In the center of the room was a small table, low to the ground. A bed and nightstand stood in one corner and a chair and a lamp in the opposite. The three Koopas took seats on the floor on different sides of the table. Bowser Jr. put his paintbrush down on the floor, not out of his reach. As soon as Sitka was situated, they began.

"This is what you are looking for," Sitka said, draping the poster over the table. The poster abstractly depicted six yellow dots against a dark blue background. They were divided in half by a silver line down the middle of the paper. On either side were different colored lines beneath the yellow dots.

"What is this?" Junior asked.

"It is something that I have foreseen," Sitka said, looking at him with mystical blue eyes, "All of those posters are."

"What's the point of makin' this place invisible if you're gonna to have all of those posters up out there?" Junior asked, "Some person's gonna get curious and find your place anyway."

"That's not the point," said Sitka, "Now…"

"Hey I'm tryin' to give you advice here," said Junior, "Why can't you just hang up the posters in here? They won't get wet when it rains and no one'll know your house is here."

"You're not here so we can talk about how horribly I organize my house," said Sitka, "Now please be quiet while I explain things child." Junior leaned back with a punctuated 'hmph'.

"As I was saying," said Sitka, "I have indeed foreseen something very, very, very… uh, very… very… oh forget it. I have seen that two worlds that should never have come into contact have now come into contact… and… my goodness what is wrong with my mind today? I feel so frazzled… Oh yes! One world has met the other. They are complete opposites of each other."

"We knew that already," Mirror Junior interrupted, "And we know that there is a great evil that has done this and that people are coming to stop it."

"Yes, that much I know," said Sitka, "But there is more than just that. Look at these symbols." He gestured to the drawing. He pointed specifically to the six yellow dots.

"Do you see these?" he asked. He moved his finger down to the lines beneath them. "And these?"

Mirror Junior nodded excitedly. Junior, having ignored the first part of the actual conversation, tuned in briefly to hear what Sitka had to say.

"I have no clue what they mean."

Mirror Junior fell over on his shell while Junior simply facefaulted. Mirror Junior quickly jumped up.

"Sitka, you must know more!" he cried.

"Perhaps I once did," said Sitka solemnly, "But it seems to have slipped my mind." Mirror Junior sat down again and thought for a few moments. There was silence. Junior, greatly annoyed with this, tapped his claws on the table.

"Well, let's try to figure them out," said Mirror Junior finally, "Everything represents something in your drawings Sitka."

"That is true," said Sitka. Mirror Junior pointed at the silver line down the middle.

"This is the mirror," said Mirror Junior. Sitka nodded. Mirror Junior pointed to the lines.

"So these must be the people meant to stop the evil," said Mirror Junior.

"I should assume so," said Sitka. Mirror Junior's claw circled the six yellow dots.

"But what are these?" he pondered, "Bananas?"

"No, mangoes!" Sitka exclaimed.

"No… perhaps they are suns?" Mirror Junior questioned. Junior looked over the drawing and the yellow dots. Something clicked in his head.

"They kind of remind me of stars," said Junior. Sitka looked at Junior suddenly.

"Stars…" he said softly, "Stars…" Suddenly he clutched his chest and shut his eyes tightly. A fell wind blew through the room. The fire blew out and they were left in darkness as there were no windows. Sitka's eyes opened and he stumbled backwards. His eyes glowed entirely blue.

"Six hold the golden stars… the key to the realm of doom… two hold the power to destroy all worlds… while evil brings all to gloom…" Sitka fell over onto his shell and went unconscious. The fire reignited. Mirror Junior stared at Junior.

"How did you know?" Mirror Junior asked. Junior said nothing. His senses suddenly weren't working correctly. He couldn't hear Mirror Junior's words. He picked up his paintbrush and pointed it at Mirror Junior. He tried to muster the words he needed to say but he couldn't. And all of this because one line in the prophecy made sense; one line had spoken to him. The key to the realm of doom. Even in his young mind, he could put two and two together. The realm of doom… was the place his father was at.

"Y-you said he would be fine!" Junior yelled suddenly, "You said that! And you lied!" The paint on the tip of his brush turned blue and he flung it at Mirror Junior. Mirror Junior jumped out of the way as ice crystals burst from the paint's impact point. More blue paint flew at him. He side-flipped over the paint and more ice crystals emerged.

"What are you talking about Junior!?" Mirror Junior asked frantically as he landed on his feet.

"You're a liar!" Junior yelled, throwing more paint. Mirror Junior rolled underneath it and ran at Junior. He threw a lightning fast punch. Junior blocked it with his paintbrush. Mirror Junior tried to grab hold of Junior's paintbrush but Junior pushed him off. He then proceeded to kick the door open and run. Mirror Junior just watched as Junior ran off.

As Mirror Junior stood there, Sitka stirred and sat up.

"What happened here?" he asked, taking note of the ice crystals.

"He… he's gone…" said Mirror Junior, "And I don't even know what was wrong."

"What did I say?" Sitka asked, "Perhaps we can shed some light on this." Mirror Junior repeated what Sitka had said previously, used to doing this from seeing Sitka recite prophecy before. Sitka grabbed some pastel chalk and began scraping new images onto the poster on the table as Mirror Junior spoke.

"This is what I saw," he said when Mirror Junior finished. He had now drawn a black circle around the middle of the silver line that represented the mirror and shaded it in. On either side of it, he had drawn two raindrops, one pink and the other black.

"The two raindrops represent the two mentioned in the prophecy who are capable of destroying all worlds," said Sitka, "From what I saw I can piece together that they are opposites of each other and if their powers were to meet, the confliction would be so great that if the power created were wielded as a weapon, it could easily blow apart half of the planet."

Mirror Junior gasped.

"The black circle you see in the middle…" Sitka said, "I saw those shadowy things… Shades is what I heard them called as… taking people to it. I believe that this black circle represents the realm of doom. I have feeling that that is what disturbed him. Did he say anything to you about the Shades?"

"His… his family was kidnapped…" said Mirror Junior, still a bit shaken.

"That's why," said Sitka, "He is afraid of what might be happening to them. 'Doom' is not a very pleasant word. Why he ran away… you must have said something soothing to him. Am I mistaken?"

Mirror Junior shook his head.

"He must not trust you fully," said Sitka, "And that is why he snapped."

"I… I think I understand," said Mirror Junior.

"Good," said Sitka, "How's your father doing?"

"Huh?" Mirror Junior said in confusion.

"Just fine I should suppose," said Sitka jovially, "He is our wonderful king after all!" Mirror Junior cracked a smile.

"There you go my boy!" Sitka exclaimed, "Questing is better spent in enjoyment than sorrow."

"Thank you, Sitka," said Mirror Junior.

"Now, here is what you must do," said Sitka, putting a hand on Mirror Junior's shoulder, "Find that friend of yours and earn his trust. You must continue this quest together. Your fates are intertwined."

Mirror Junior nodded.

"I will," he said.

"That's my boy!" Sitka exclaimed, pushing Mirror Junior to the door, "Good luck! Oh wait!"

"What is it?" Mirror Junior asked, turning around.

"That prophecy reminded me of something… hold on…" Sitka went to his shelf and knocked off a few books until he found something. He brought it to Mirror Junior. It was a small pouch in the shape of a star.

"This is…" Mirror Junior gasped.

"A gift," said Sitka with a smile, "You know what you must do." With that, Mirror Junior walked out and Sitka shut the door behind him. He turned around briefly to gaze at nothing.

"Thanks Sitka," he said again before dashing off.

* * *

Toadsworth cracked open the door to Princess Peach's bedroom.

"Princess! What are you doing up at this ungodly hour!" Toadsworth yelled. Peach looked up from her desk.

"Toadsworth..." she whispered, "You'll wake everyone!"

"Keep it down out there!" someone yelled down the hallway, right on cue. That was followed by more yelling which only quieted down after about five minutes. Toadsworth walked inside the room and shut the door, rolling his eyes.

"Toadsworth…" Peach whispered.

"I'll have none of it!" Toadsworth whispered back, "I don't care if the Mario Brothers' reputation is at stake. You need sleep!"

"I'm fine Toadsworth," Peach whispered, "And I'm almost done. I could make the speech tomorrow at the earliest… which I think I will do. Tell the papers that…"

"You must go to bed!" Toadsworth whispered.

"I need just another half hour," Peach whispered, "Aren't you worried for the Mario Brothers as well?"

"Of course I am!" Toadsworth whispered, "But that's no reason to be staying up late!"

"I'm worried Toadsworth," Peach said softly, "I really am. I need this speech to be given. They work so hard for us. I don't want them to come back and be rejected just because they accidentally torched a forest."

"And the speech can't wait another day?" asked Toadsworth.

"It's something called pride," said Peach, "I want this land to feel the same way I do about the Mario Brothers. Proud of our heroes. Proud under any circumstance… except for extremes that I know they would never go to." Toadsworth said nothing.

"Please Toadsworth," said Peach, "Tell the reporting service I will be speaking tomorrow. Three in the afternoon." Toadsworth looked at his feet.

"I'll get the word out," he said grudgingly, "Please get to sleep as soon as possible. Worrying about you is addling my brain…"

"Then stop worrying," said Peach with a smile, "I'm alright." She went back to her work. Toadsworth turned and left, nothing on his mind but everything that could possibly go wrong. He could only hope that all was well on the Mario Brothers' end. For whatever reason, he doubted it.

* * *

Mario remained unbroken and yet dreadful as the Toads led them towards a large town that was about ten miles from where they were captured. Dark clouds hung over the area. A large black castle that looked eerily similar to Peach's castle from their world stood at the far end of the town. As they walked through the town, they were given all sorts of looks from the Toads that seemed to live there. Some were shocked (Mario guessed that those were the stupid ones) and others were glaring.

They reached the castle after about ten minutes of being paraded through the streets of the town. They were led across the bridge and in through the castle gates. After being walked through the castle halls for a few minutes, the group suddenly split. One group went down one hallway towards a large set of doors. They took Jonathan with them. The other, Mario and Luigi's group, was taken down the other way. After three flights of downwards stairs, they found themselves in catacombs. Prison cells were everywhere. Here, Mario got the scare of his life. And from what he could tell, Luigi was utterly terrified at what they were seeing as well. Within the small and cramped cells were a total of hundreds and hundreds… of Shroobs.

Moaning came from every wall in gibberish that Mario and Luigi couldn't understand.

"Shut up!" one Toad yelled as they stopped on the bottom floor. Most of the moaning and crying and such stopped. The Toad that had yelled pointed at a specific cell.

"In there," he said. The Toads opened up the cell, cut the ropes tying Mario and Luigi, and threw them inside. The cell was shut and then locked and then the Toads left. The moaning resumed, but it was background noise to Mario as he tried to comfort the crying Luigi. For the time being, they were ignoring the Shroobs moaning and groaning around them.

"We're gonna die here Mario!" he wailed clinging to his brother, "We're gonna die!"

"Mamma Mia Luigi…" Mario said shaking his head, "We're not going to die. We'll find a way out of here." Luigi sat back on his bottom.

"How do you suggest we get out of here?" Luigi asked, "We're in a prison cell. They disarmed us. And there's simply no way out."

"We took down eight of the elite guard Luigi," said Mario, "The next time they come down to let us out for fresh air, we'll jump them."

"With no power-ups?" said Luigi.

"We don't need power-ups," said Mario, "We're heroes! And I think we've gotten through enough tight squeezes without power-ups to get out of this one."

"I don't know Mario… remember when…" he stopped mid-sentence. Mario saw why. A hand was on his shoulder. Luigi screamed, swiveled around and punched the person the hand belonged to. Mario took a step back as the one who had been punched held his head. Luigi shuffled back to Mario. Before them on the ground was a man with blond, very dirty hair and sunken blue eyes. He wore dirty black overalls and a dirty blue shirt underneath those. Behind him, trying as hard as possible to hide, was a small Shroob.

"AUUUGHH!" Luigi screamed, jumping into Mario's arms. The Shroob started to cry. The man turned around suddenly and cradled it in his arms. Mario watched in confusion.

"Si wels'van," he said, "Si wels'van." He looked up at the Mario Brothers.

"Li coum'ras!" he yelled at them, "Qi talise etsara!?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Mario, dropping the terrified-beyond-caring Luigi on the ground, "What did you just say?" The man looked confused.

"Li aick sitan est'soros…" he said, "Calsaje aick salt'soan Sharoa…"

"What are you saying?" Mario asked, almost pleadingly. The man stared at him and then shut his eyes. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again.

"I… I… kn… know..." he paused and looked at the top of the cell. He then looked back at Mario and pinched his fingers together in a gesture.

"L… li… little," he pushed out, "Eng… Engr… n… no… Eng… lish. English. I… kn… know… li… ttle… English."

"You know little English?" Mario asked. The man nodded. Luigi got up holding his head.

"Could someone please explain to me what is going on!" he cried, "Why are there Shroobs everywhere? Why are you here? And why aren't you speaking English!?" The man stared at him.

"Luigi be quiet," said Mario, "He doesn't understand much of what you're saying either." He turned his attention back to the man.

"Um… could… you tell us… your name?" he asked as slowly as possible. The man stared at him.

"A… a… ag… again?" he asked.

"Could you tell us your name?" Mario asked again, this time using gestures. The man's eyes seemed to light up.

"M… me… no… my… n… name… i… is… Alfred," he said, "My… name… is… Alfred." The Shroob buried itself into Alfred's chest.

"Aick gi vatz'roy salt'soat Galsina," the Shroob said, a little muffled.

"Est'sorod aick ger'shan bolma tunvai," Alfred said. He returned his attention to the Mario Brothers. Mario spoke first.

"You speak Shroobian," Mario said, relatively shocked.

"Y… ye… yes," said Alfred, "I know… li… little English." Mario was able to put a few things together from there. Alfred clearly was thrown into this dungeon at about the same time as the Shroobs (an event that he figured was the result of the mirroring of the Shroobian attack on the Mushroom Kingdom). He must have been raised by them and learned their language. But where had he come from?

"How did you get in here?" Luigi asked as though reading his mind. Alfred looked confused for a few seconds as he looked down at the top of the Shroob's head but before either of them could repeat it, he began to shed tears.

"Aick… n… not," he started, "Aick… not… resd'san… ab… le… salt'soad… s… say… Galsina…"

"English," Mario said.

"Aick resd'san salt'soad Galsina," Alfred said.

"Not able say English?" Luigi asked.

"I think he means he can't say it in English," said Mario, "Must be too many words. And look at the poor guy." Alfred was drying tears.

"I don't think he really wants to say it anyway," said Mario.

"Where did he learn English anyway?" Luigi asked. Alfred spoke up.

"H… he… here," he said, pointing to his head. Mario and Luigi both put on confused looks.

"D… dr… dre… dre…"

"Dreams," said Mario. Alfred nodded.

"B… but… no… sp… speak… c… cause…"

"Because," Mario corrected.

"Because…" Alfred continued, "Reuben…" He gestured to the Shroob. "S… sc… scared."

"Oh," Mario and Luigi said at once. It made sense. With all of those Toads yelling in English, who would want to associate with anyone associated with the language?

Reuben was now sleeping in Alfred's arms. Alfred looked up at the Mario Bros.

"Y… you… t… te… teach… I... no… me… English?" he asked.

"You want us to teach you?" Mario asked.

"J… just… li… ttle," said Alfred.

"I don't know Mario," said Luigi, "You know how badly I did on my tests in school."

"Come on Luigi," said Mario, "You won the spelling bee two years straight. Give yourself some credit." He returned his attention to Alfred.

"Alright," said Mario, "We'll start now." Alfred took a moment to process the words.

"Th… thank… you," he said.

* * *

Kiara was lying on a hill outside of Toad Town. It was so peaceful out there as she stared at the moon. She closed her eyes and imagined what life what be like if she could live here. She would love it. She wouldn't have to worry about her siblings or her father getting in her business. She wouldn't have to live in that gloomy world.

A shock suddenly hit her as she scolded herself for saying such things. She began to tear apart what she had just said. She rolled over and hit the ground as she screamed hateful things about the world she was in. Then, suddenly, she rolled over again and saw the moon. She was breathing heavily. She started to cry as she sat up. The confliction within her, the strongest of all of her siblings, was growing larger. It was tearing her mind apart. When she opened her eyes again, she saw smoke down the hill through blurry tears.

She headed down the hill for fear that another fire had started. When she got down there however, she saw that it was a handmade fire, made to burn something. She saw a cloaked figure standing before it. She walked up next to him and glimpsed his face.

"Peter…" she said, "What are you doing here?" The cloaked figure removed his hood with his gloved hands revealing his blond hair and blue eyes.

"Fulfilling orders," he said, pointing to the flames. A book was burning there.

"The book of prophecy," said Peter. They stood in silence.

"You should probably get ready to get your job done as well," said Peter, "Father has issued your orders to go forth with your mission tomorrow."

"I… I thought he said two days," said Kiara.

"He's been watching her," said Peter solemnly, "He figured she would change plans. He had Shadias position a Shade army in the woods surrounding the lake nearby. They will accompany you and make sure you don't try anything." Kiara said nothing and did nothing. Peter took her hand in his own and made her face him.

"Kiara," he said, "I don't like what's going on any more than you do. But what father says goes. You must complete your mission. We must press on to the end… no matter how it shall be." There was a moment of silence.

"You know how this is going to turn out," Kiara said, "You read the prophecy book." Peter nodded.

"It is best that you do not know," he said, "Some things are better left unsaid." Kiara said nothing. Then, as Peter got up to go pick up a nearby bucket of water, she spoke.

"Do we win Peter?" she asked, almost desperately, "Do we win?" Peter said nothing and doused the fire. Kiara started to cry.

"Peter, please tell me," Kiara said, "Do we win? I have to know!" Peter turned to her and looked her in the eye. His look was sorrowful.

"Good luck," he said, "I'll see you back home." He covered his face with his cloak and walked into the shadows of the night, leaving Kiara in the darkness to storm away to the lake, sobbing.

* * *

**A/N: We learn more about the story… Six stars, held by six people, are the key to a world of doom, where everyone is being taken. Sitka held one. The Juniors are on their own, separate from each other, and Mirror Junior is going after Junior. Mario and Luigi are giving English lessons. Peach's speech has been moved up a day. And Kiara's mission has been initiated. What will happen to Junior? What will happen to Mario and Luigi? And what does Peter know? **


	11. Anticipation

Chapter 11: Anticipation

Jonathan was dragged through the enormous doors into a large domed room. His captors held him above a red carpet with creepy black designs. Toads with weapons of all sorts lined the sides of the room. At the end of the room was a sight that made him cringe. He saw a woman in a black dress holding a clearly magical scepter, flanked by two men: a short man with green clothing and black overalls, and a tall man with red clothing and black overalls. They looked exactly like Mario and Luigi except for their clothes.

Jonathan was shoved to the ground and fell on his face. The Toads that had captured him knelt and bowed their heads.

"Your highness," said the one that had been holding Jonathan, "Our lives are held in your hands. You are the true and rightful ruler who shall this land. You have our word that we will follow you to the ends of the earth if it means conquering any and all lands. Long live Princess Peach." The Toads got up.

"State your business," said the so-called Princess Peach.

"We have caught a traitor to your empire your highness," said the speaking Toad.

"What has he done?" the princess asked.

"He has demonstrated abilities forbidden within your domain your highness," said the Toad.

"Yeah," another Toad spoke up, "He uncoiled a slinky..." The Toad who had been speaking went rigid. The princess glared at all of them.

"You've brought a citizen to me for trial simply because he uncoiled a slinky?" she asked, "You would take a fellow member of your race, and a child no less, and have him punished simply for that?"

"N-n-no your highness," the first Toad said quickly, "It is true he uncoiled a slinky… but it's the way he did it that should get him punished."

"How might you uncoil a slinky anyway?" the princess inquired, "You would need to melt it or have incredible strength, abilities that I would welcome within my realm."

"Your highness, he uncoiled it with Resourcery," said the Toad. The princess stood up suddenly.

"Resourcery," she repeated, shock hidden in her voice.

"Yes," said the Toad, "Resourcery." The princess glared at Jonathan, who had stood up by this point.

"Do it," she said, "Show me your power." Jonathan took a step back. The Toads behind him shoved him forward. Jonathan shook in fear. Nothing happened for a few moments. Then the princess raised her hand towards him. The two men at her sides began to approach Jonathan. Jonathan tried moving back again but the Toads pushed him forward again. As the men got closer, Jonathan snapped. He raised his hands to the walls. Two tapestries suddenly flew from them and tied together. They came down and tied themselves in a circle around the two men.

A few seconds later, the men ripped out of the tapestries and continued towards Jonathan.

"Stop!" the princess called, "Mario! Luigi!" The men with the same names and looks as the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom turned and returned to the princess's sides.

"He is a child," she said, "We can teach him to obey. Then we can have him fight against that insidious police officer. We finally have one who can counter his power." There were cheers and 'yeahs' all across the room. The princess raised her hand for quiet.

"We will take him to the center of town," she said, "And announce that a new warrior has arisen to aid us in our fight to take what is rightfully ours from those who do not deserve it!"

"But your highness," said the Toad who had captured Jonathan, "If he uses his powers against us…"

"You will teach him not to," said Peach, glaring at the Toad, "Or otherwise…" She hit her staff against the ground. The room went quiet. The Toad gulped and nodded in agreement.

"Make the announcement," said Peach, "Hire a band or something. Make it into a grand scene! I expect a full parade in two hours!" Toads suddenly began running around everywhere, leaving the room to get things ready. Soon the room was empty except for Jonathan, Peach, and those who looked as though the Mario Brothers.

"Princess," said the green-clothed one, "Your idea is ingenious. But what if it backfires?"

"My ideas do not backfire Mario," said the princess, looking at Jonathan, "I will make sure of it. Isn't that right young Toad?" The way she said those words made Jonathan feel sick. The princess got up and began walking towards him. The men followed. She held her scepter out as she got closer to Jonathan. Jonathan covered his eyes. However, all the Princess did was touch him and gently usher him along with her.

"Come," said Peach, "You shall be one of the greatest warriors in my army. With your help, the world will be ours. And I will have you placed at my right hand if you succeed…"

"Hey, I already called that spot!" the man who looked like Luigi exclaimed.

"And I've got the left!" said the other Mario. Peach gave them "are-you-stupid" looks and returned her eyes to Jonathan.

"You can sit on my lap," she said, "Come along." Jonathan, on the inside was utterly terrified. He had no idea what was going on or what to do. He had no idea what Resourcery even meant. Was that what his power was? He couldn't think about so many things at once. So he just focused on walking along. He feared what would happen to himself.

* * *

Kiara stormed right into a Shade hideout near the lake as the sun rose on the horizon and threw a Shade to the ground.

"I don't think you… you… idiots!" she yelled, "Are supposed to be telling other people what I have to do!" Every Shade in the place looked at her in confusion. She had clearly been crying. Her eyes were stained red from tears.

"Miss Kiara…" Kiara socked the Shade in the face and it fell on the ground.

"Don't speak my name or I'll beat the darkness out of you and you'll scream like little baby kittens!" she screamed. All of the Shades backed up. Kiara's glowering eyes suddenly settled down. She sighed.

"I'm sorry…" she said. There was a brief pause. She straightened up and breathed in and out.

"Where's your commander?" she asked. A Shade walked forward.

"Commander #4 reporting for duty… uh… ma'am," it said.

"What is the current plan?" she asked.

"Walk right in, take the princess, use my mirror warping abilities, and we're out," said the Shade. Kiara stared at it with an "are-you-an-idiot" look.

"Commander," she said, "You realize that this mission could decide the fate of our cause. So stop being a… a… a…" She stopped for a few seconds.

"Trying to find nice words to say…" she said, "Nincompoop. Stop being a nincompoop." The Shade just stared at her. She sighed.

"Let's all just sit down and discuss this now that I'm here," she said.

"That sounds good," said the commander. So they sat down and began discussing the plan.

* * *

Toadbert's hand shook as he put another book on the shelf. The experience was driving him mad. He had but two more stacks and he would be finished. The library would be once again completely and perfectly organized. He took a heavy breath as he trudged over to the stack of books again. He picked the next one up and put it on its designated shelf. His stomach roared at him. He hadn't eaten in two full days. He ignored it. The library was more important.

He went to get the next book. He picked it up. He almost cried. It was a cookbook. The food depicted on the front danced before his eyes. He shoved it on the shelf and ran away, trying not to focus on the hunger. He moved through the second-to-last stack as quickly as possible. He was almost done. He cut the last stack down to half, ignoring his hunger. As he reached the last five books, he nearly collapsed. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. His legs were like jelly. And yet his mind still told him he had to get those last five books on the shelf.

He crawled over and grabbed the fifth-to-last book. He managed to get himself over to the bottom of the last shelf. He shoved it in. He crawled back and got the next two on the shelf. It took him five minutes to get the second-to-last book on the shelf. He hovered over the last book, a book about sleep. He tried to pick it up, but his arms failed him. His head fell upon the book and he did just that: sleep.

* * *

Kayla ran as fast as her feet could carry her after Kendall, who was chasing a Shade desperately. They had come across a group of Shades from which Kendall assumed the Shade they had defeated had come. Kendall had defeated the group, but one had escaped, so, against Kayla's logic, which was to get information out of a defeated Shade, he had chased after it.

So now Kayla was running after Kendall who was running after the Shade. Are we clear? Good. Kayla stopped for a second to catch her breath. Kendall immediately called out, "Hurry up!"

"Slow down!" Kayla yelled back.

"Catch up!" Kendall called back a few seconds later. Kayla watched as he started running and then jumped into his shell. She dove into her shell as well and pursued.

Kendall managed to gain some ground by rolling instead of running. As soon as he was close enough, he dove out of his shell, frontflipped, raised his hand to a loose tree branch, and formed a boomerang. He threw it in the same motion. The Shade was knocked over. Kendall hit the ground with a somersault and stepped on it in victory. Kayla rolled up seconds later.

"Nice," she said, breathing heavily. Kendall pulled the Shade off the ground and pinned it to a tree.

"Where are you all coming from?" Kendall asked through gritted teeth. The Shade said nothing.

"Answer me!" Kendall yelled.

"Mirrors," the Shade said.

"I know that!" Kendall yelled, "From where do you enter the mirrors?"

"A world that only appears in your worst nightmares," the Shade said, "Where you will meet your doom."

"Where is it?" Kendall asked, "How do you get to it?" The sound of trumpets suddenly blared through the air. Kendall was so shocked he let go of the Shade. The Shade took its opportunity and scampered off into the woods.

"What was that?" Kayla asked, running up to Kendall.

"Trumpets…" Kendall said, "They only use them when… oh no… come on Kayla!" He ran off again. Kayla sighed.

"Does he ever consider that some people are too busy to exercise?" Kayla asked herself. She shook it off and started running after him again.

* * *

**A/N: A short chapter here, but there's a good reason for that. The next chapter is going to be utter chaos. Jonathan has gone through an unexpected turn of events. We've gotten a glimpse of how Toadbert is doing. And Kendall and Kayla are now on their way towards the sound of trumpets. What will Jonathan do in the situation he is in? Where are our Koopa friends headed? And will Toadbert ever get out of that library? **


	12. Utter Chaos

Chapter 12: Utter Chaos

"My… shirt is blue," Alfred slowly.

"Good!" Mario exclaimed, "You're making good progress."

"In Shroobian… 'Ig slav'kin si zuba'," Alfred said, "My shirt… is blue." Mario nodded. Alfred had indeed made some good progress. They had taught him fifteen phrases in about two hours. Reuben was still sound asleep in Alfred's arms.

"Moving along," said Luigi, "'I am hungry'."

"I am… hun… gry…" Alfred said slowly, "What does it mean?" Luigi thought for a minute and then acted out the meaning. He put his hands on his stomach and wailed dramatically.

"Vog'thas?" Alfred asked, "Sick?" Luigi crashed to the floor.

"No," said Mario, "You say it when you need food."

"Food…" Alfred said, "Oh! Like 'Vrekthren'! Uh… need?"

"Need…" Mario made a circling motion with his hand to tell him to continue.

"Food!" Alfred finished, "Need food. Vrekthren! Gi vrekthren. I need food. Or, I am hungry."

"Good!" said Mario. Alfred gave a smile of accomplishment. Then suddenly, the wailing and moaning started up again. Reuben stirred in Alfred's arms. They heard voices coming down the stairs through the noises.

"What's that parade all about?" one voice asked.

"That kid that the elite force captured turned out to be a Resourcerer," another voice answered, "The princess believes that she can use him to help her conquer the world. If she can get him on her side. I guess she figures this parade'll do it."

"I'll say," said the other voice, "A parade held just for me at dusk… I would enjoy that."

Mario turned to Luigi.

"They're talking about Jonathan," he said. Luigi nodded.

"Poor kid…" said Mario, "Sounds like they're trying to mess with his head." The two talking Toads reached the bottom of the stairs.

"What's his name?" one of them asked.

"I don't know," said the other, "I'm just a prison guard. Don't expect me to know these things."

"Yeah, well let's finish up down here so that we can go see the parade," said his partner, "I want to see what they were able to put together in two hours." The two Toads began walking around the prison cells on the bottom floor. They checked off boxes on a list of numbers. They came around to Mario and Luigi's cell. Mario had his palms together and he and Luigi were looking at them.

"What are you looking at?" one of the Toads asked authoritatively.

"Oh, you want to see?" Mario asked, turning around, "It's a rare type of insect. You should be selling these things! They're everywhere."

"Let me see," said the Toad. Mario walked over, his palms still closed. As he reached out through the bars, he clenched his top palm into a fist. The Toads watched curiously. Then they both got punches to the face. The punches left them struggling to get up. Mario began kicking the bars. Alfred shrank into a corner in shock.

"Luigi, help me!" Mario yelled. Luigi immediately ran to help his brother try to bend the bars.

"Prison break!" one of the Toads yelled as he got up, "They're trying to break out!" The Mario Bros managed to get a wide enough hole open so that Luigi could fit through. Luigi knocked both of the Toads out in one move; he smashed their skulls together. Then he took their key. He inserted it into the lock on the cell in which he had been held. The lock clicked and the bars opened.

"Come on Alfred!" Mario exclaimed as he stepped out of the bars, "We're busting out!" Alfred stood up shakily and walked out through the bars, Reuben still in his arms. He walked back into the cell and back out again.

"Xertamsi dazeas… xertamsi dazeas…" he said breathlessly, "Ha daz dul vinsa…" Mario and Luigi were already on unlocking the other cells with their key. They stopped when they heard the steps of more Toads coming down the stairs.

"Keep going Luigi!" Mario said, "I'll take them." Mario ran for the stairs. Alfred felt Reuben hugging him in fear.

"Aick vatz'roy dem'nad…" he whimpered.

"Aick vab'gany dem'nad," Alfred whispered to him, "Est'sorod mabol ret'gadan."

* * *

Kayla caught up with Kendall a few minutes after he had stopped at the top of a cliff. She stopped five feet from him to catch her breath.

"Where do you learn to run so fast?" she asked.

"Look," said Kendall, pointing over the cliff. Kayla walked up to him and looked. She saw a large town. It was lit by street lamps and the lights of the buildings that comprised it beneath the moonlight. Spotlights shone into the sky.

"What is that place?" Kayla asked.

"That is the capitol of Princess Peach's domain," said Kendall, "This world's, not…"

"I get it," said Kayla, "I think the whole mirror thing has been clarified by this point."

"True that," said Kendall, "The trumpets usually mean something big is going on. I've been around when they've gotten ready to march on King Bowser's territory."

"Soooo…"

"So we have to get in there and see what's going on," said Kendall, "Let's go!" He started to run off again but Kayla caught him by the arm. He fell onto his shell.

"Hold on," she said, "We can't just waltz in there and expect to be greeted with candy and flowers and stuff. We have to come up with some sort of plan."

"Plans take too much time," said Kendall, "We've got none to lose."

"We need to at least try to be sneaky," said Kayla, "Or distract them… or something!" Kendall looked at Kayla intently.

"That's not a bad idea…" he said, "How's your acting?"

Jonathan sat nervously upon the seat provided for him on the main float out of the three that had been created in the two hours. Toads were in the streets cheering loudly. They were yelling Peach's name and things like 'long live the princess'. They held up signs praising the princess. He didn't know what to think. He couldn't tell if he should be absolutely terrified that these Toads were practically worshipping the princess or if he should be making himself comfortable among all of this sudden praise. Neither option made him feel any better about the situation.

The floats suddenly came to a halt. Mirror Peach, who stood behind Jonathan, walked forward and began to speak.

"Citizens of my domain!" she called loudly for all to hear, "Tonight I inform you that we now have the power to destroy the insidious King Bowser!" As the Toads roared, Jonathan grew ever more confused. _King_ Bowser? Since when was Bowser a king?

"This young boy right here has a power that has only ever been used against us by those inferior Koopas," said Peach, "He has a power that has destroyed our forces as we have tried to rope those Koopas under our protection. He has… Resourcery." A gasp went all across the town.

"Do not fear," Peach continued, "He is on our side. He will aid us in our fight against those who resist us. His name is…" Before Peach could make a fool out of herself and not be able to say Jonathan's name because she didn't know it, voices rang out from one of the rooftops nearby.

"Boo!" a voice called, "Boo! This idea is very bad! We should not do it!"

"Yeah!" another voice called, "This will only lead to death and destruction. And we don't want that do we?" The whole town looked about in confusion. Who would dare to question the princess? Those who could see who was speaking could see two Toads on the rooftops holding signs that specifically showed Princess Peach's name crossed out and the words 'Bad Idea'. Naturally, we know exactly who they were.

"This is the best plan you could come up with!?" Kayla whispered to Kendall.

"Start running when I say three," Kendall whispered back, "One…"

"Wait," Kayla whispered, "Remember, get Jonathan first before you beat the tar out of someone. He's innocent and probably has no clue what's going on."

"Got it," Kendall whispered, "Two…"

"And try not to get yourself killed," Kayla whispered.

"I know," Kendall said, somewhat annoyed, "One…"

"And…"

"Go!" Kendall said. He ripped off his disguise and began running for the float. Kayla almost yelled for him to wait again. Then she noticed that some Toads had jumped up onto the roof she was on. They were closing in.

"Oh crap," she said. She tore off her disguise, dropped her sign, and jumped to the next roof. The Toads ran after her. She continued her roof jumping until she fell off into an alleyway. She proceeded to hide behind a dumpster. She heard a voice yelling from the street outside.

"You again!" it yelled. She shrank back behind the dumpster.

"Why did I agree to this?" she asked herself.

* * *

_The two of them arrived at the town gates, unguarded due to some parade that was going on inside. As soon as they got inside, Kendall ordered Kayla onto a roof so that they could see what was going on. As soon as they were on the roof, they saw the features of the parade; or at least one of the floats. The float they saw gave Kayla a surprise. She saw Jonathan sitting upon it. _

"_Hey I know that kid!" she exclaimed. _

"_The one on the float?" Kendall asked. _

"_Yeah!" Kayla exclaimed, "He was a victim of the first Shade attack in my world. He saved the Mario Brothers of my world from an environmentalist mob." _

"_Odd… how did he end up here?" Kendall asked, "And being honored of all things?" Kayla shrugged. _

"_He's innocent though," she said, "I just know it. We have to rescue him." Kendall took a few seconds to respond. He was clearly mulling over the facts in his head. _

"_Got it," said Kendall, "I'll make disguises and signs right away! Just follow my lead." _

Kayla heard footsteps in the alleyway. She knew she was going to have to run again. She jumped up on the dumpster, dodged the swing of a club and started running again. She burst through the crowd, jumped onto a float, dove into her shell, and burst through the crowd again on the other side. She hit the walls of an alleyway and ended up on the next street, which was less crowded. After she rebounded off of another wall, she dove out of her shell and started running again. She was headed straight for the castle.

* * *

In the meantime, Kendall was facing down the color-swapped Mario Brothers, who were guarding Jonathan and Peach. He had turned his sign into a wooden sword. The town around the float was in chaos.

"Let the kid go," said Kendall over the chaos, "He doesn't deserve to be under your control."

"Come now Koopa scum," said Peach, poison in her voice, "I have granted this youngster a place of highest honor in my kingdom as long as he does my bidding. After all, his powers are at equals to yours."

"What are you talking about?" Kendall asked.

"Show him boy!" Peach ordered. Jonathan was terrified. He did nothing.

"Show him!" she ordered again. Jonathan nearly started crying.

"See, he wants nothing to do with you," Kendall asserted, brandishing his wooden sword, "Let him go immediately and I might spare you some pain."

"Mario! Luigi!" Peach yelled, "Get him!" Peach reached down to grab Jonathan by the scruff of the neck. Kendall ran and then dove into his shell, speeding past Mario and Luigi. He jumped out of his shell swung his wooden sword at Peach and caused her to back away. He then grabbed Jonathan's hand, dropping his wooden sword on the float.

"Come on kid," he said, "I'm getting you out of here." Jonathan simply didn't know what to think. So he hopped on Kendall's back and Kendall started running.

"Stop him!" Peach yelled. Mario and Luigi ran after Kendall. Kendall looked back briefly and then jumped off of the float.

"Have you ever ridden a Koopa shell?" Kendall asked over the crowds. Jonathan shook his head.

"Well you're about to," he said, "Get ready… get set… JUMP!" Jonathan jumped just as he dove into his shell. By some stroke of luck, Jonathan managed to land on his shell. By some stroke of bad luck, Jonathan almost fell off immediately. Kendall did his best to balance Jonathan out.

"Ride with both feet!" Kendall yelled from within his shell. Jonathan put his second foot down after a few seconds.

"Good!" Kendall yelled, "Now steer!" Jonathan almost instinctively pushed right on Kendall's shell and turned a corner.

"You're a natural!" Kendall exclaimed as they raced through the crowds. Though he could not see Jonathan's face, the young Toad held a terrified smile.

"Say, what's your name kid?" Kendall asked.

"Jonathan!" Jonathan replied.

* * *

Mario was tiring as he fought the Toads back up the stairs. Luigi was almost done with the second floor of the prison. The majority of prisoners were Shroobs. Here and there were Koopas cramped into single cells. All of the prisoners found themselves cramped on the bottom floor as the second floor cleared out.

"Luigi… switch with me!" Mario yelled down the stairs. Luigi didn't respond. A Toad knocked Mario down the first flight of stairs. Ten more followed it after Mario, who immediately got up and ran back down.

"Luigi!" Mario called. Luigi came into view as Mario hit the second flight of stairs. His eyes widened. Many more Toads were following Mario down the stairs. He began to run down himself. They both hit the top of the last flight of stairs as the Toads closed in.

"Power-ups would be kind of useful right now don't you think?" Luigi inquired with a bit of annoyance.

"Yeah," said Mario, "That's true." The Toads approached them in a now very large number, weapons brandished threateningly. Luigi clung to Mario.

"Nice knowing you bro…" he cried. Alfred watched this from the last flight of stairs as did all of the Shroobs on the bottom floor.

"Aick bet'raba," he whispered, "Aick bet'raba." Reuben clung to him tighter. That's when a scream rang out from the top of the stairs. All of the Toads looked back up the stairs. Mario and Luigi froze in place. They watched as two Toads brought a very familiar figure down the stairs, clearly intending to throw her in prison. It was Kayla.

When the Toads saw all of the Shroobs gathered on the stairs and the ground floor, they dropped Kayla in surprise, who proceeded to drop kick the one on her left and punch the one on her right. She then charged down the stairs and dove into her shell, knocking over about twelve more Toads on the way down. Her shell was stopped by Mario's foot. She jumped out.

"I've had enough of being captured!" she yelled, "Keep your hands off of me or else!" She turned around and took a step back at seeing Mario and Luigi.

"Oh, hey guys," she said, "What are you doing here?"

"Get back!" Mario yelled, pushing her behind them. In the same moment, they began to try fighting the Toads coming at them. Kayla was about ready to run in after them and pummel all of the combatants in said fight, but as she swiveled her head, she saw something she thought she'd never see: Shroobs, and a lot of them.

"No way…" she said in disbelief, "There's no way mama and pops could have known." The Shroobs on the bottom floor just stared at her. She took a deep breath.

"Sitan masliesk!" she yelled, "Por'relaba!" A wave of shock went through the room. Mario and Luigi turned around. The Toads stopped fighting.

"You speak Shroobian?" Mario and Luigi asked in shock.

"She speaks Shroobian?" the Toads all asked in shock.

"Gais salt'soas Sharoa!?" Alfred asked in an equal amount of shock. There was a brief pause in any and all action as the shock subsided. Then the Shroobs suddenly charged. The non-Shroobs (Kayla, Mario, Luigi, and Alfred) charged with them, but only because they didn't want to be run over. The Toads were easily overtaken. Once they were all down, the Shroobs looked to Kayla, who now stood on the next flight of stairs. Mario and Luigi ran up to her.

"Where did you learn…" Mario was cut off.

"It's a long story," said Kayla, "I'll tell you later."

"Tell them to follow me," said Mario, "Luigi, you have the key right?" Luigi held up the key he had been using to undo the locks.

"Finish the job," said Mario, "I'll lead them out."

"Right," said Luigi, running up the stairs.

"Alin'maba Mario!" Kayla yelled to the Shroobs, gesturing to Mario. The purple mushroom people did as they were told and began following Mario up the stairs. Kayla was about to do the same when Alfred stopped her.

"Ig aphla si Alfred," he said, holding his free hand out to shake. Kayla did so.

"Kayla," she said simply.

"Reuben!" the Shroob he held exclaimed, "Gais mabol ret'gadan?" Kayla gave him a smile.

"Mabol est's ret'gadam," she said. With that they followed the crowd up the stairs.

* * *

Kendall and Jonathan had gotten through the bulk of the crowds and were now hiding in an alleyway near the castle for the sole reason that Kendall could question Jonathan. Toads passed them by, not giving the alleyway a second thought. They could hear screams of "Find them!" distantly.

"What did they mean when they said your powers are at equals to mine?" Kendall asked. Jonathan shook his head.

"I… I don't know…" he said, "Th… they said something about Resourcery or something…" Kendall almost fell over onto his shell.

"You're a Resourcerer!?" Kendall exclaimed.

"I… I guess," said Jonathan, taking a few steps away from the Koopa. Kendall walked right back up to him and put hands on his shoulders.

"That's impossible…" Kendall said, "I thought I was the last one… but the other world exists… Are you from there?" Jonathan looked confused.

"Do you understand what I'm talking about?" Kendall asked. Jonathan shook his head.

"Okay…" said Kendall. He gave Jonathan a quick rundown of what was going on in the worlds. He told him about the mirror situation and the Shades (which Jonathan already had considerable knowledge of). He refrained from mentioning what the Shade he had captured earlier had said. He still didn't have enough evidence to support that statement.

"I… I think I understand," said Jonathan. He couldn't wrap his mind around most things, but he understood, for the most part, what was going on with the mirrors.

"Good," said Kendall, "Now are you from this world or the other one?"

"The other one," Jonathan answered.

"Just as I thought…" said Kendall.

"There he is!" a voice yelled from down the alleyway. Kendall immediately grabbed Jonathan around the waist, jumped on a dumpster and bounded up to grab the roof above him. He pushed Jonathan up onto the roof and then swung himself over before the Toads at the end of the alleyway could reach them. As soon as he stood up, he hoisted Jonathan back on his back.

"Do you know a female Koopa named Kayla?" Kendall asked, "A reporter, wears a green hat, pink hair…"

"Yeah," said Jonathan, "She was at the castle when…" Kendall immediately started running towards the castle before Jonathan could finish. He jumped the chaotic street and landed on the next roof. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Toads running across the rooftops towards him. Kendall jumped off of the roof and down to the next street. He ran down the street until he hit an intersection. Then he turned left. Two more blocks down, he turned right. They were now on Main Street and headed directly at the castle.

Kendall saw Toads on the rooftops following them in hot pursuit. He focused on the road ahead. Some of the Toads then jumped off of the rooftops, attempting to cut him off.

"Get ready to ride again Jonathan!" Kendall warned. Jonathan jumped and Kendall dove. The young Toad landed on his shell and he flew right past the point at which the two Toads were aiming. They collided with each other seconds after Kendall had blazed through.

"Keep going straight!" Kendall yelled.

"There's people on the bridge!" Jonathan yelled back. Kendall didn't have time to slow down. He dove out of his shell. Jonathan went flying. Kendall hit the ground and rolled right onto the bridge. He ended up on his shell. He rolled over onto his stomach, stood up, and dusted himself off. Then he proceeded to look around for Jonathan. He found his eyes meeting the eyes of hundreds of souls on the bridge before him, including Mario, Luigi, Jonathan, Kayla, another man in black overalls and a blue shirt, and many, many Shroobs.

"It's Kendall!" Luigi exclaimed. Kayla ran up to him.

"I told you to be careful!" Kayla yelled, "Or at least I was going to before you ran off!"

"Geez, I'm sorry," said Kendall, "I got both of us here in one piece though." He gestured to Jonathan, who was in Mario's arms. He gazed through the crowd on the bridge and saw a few Koopas mixed in with the Shroobs.

"Did you go through with an entire prison break!?" he asked in disbelief.

"Sort of," said Mario, walking up to him with Luigi, "It only worked because the guards were idiots."

"And because Kayla here speaks Shroobian," Luigi added, "How do you two know each other anyway?"

"You speak Shroobian!?" Kendall said in disbelief.

"It's a long story," Kayla said, blushing a little.

"Uh… Gais ver'ytanas ovni," said the man in the black overalls and blue shirt, walking up to the small group, pointing past Kayla and Kendall.

"He says…" Kayla started as she turned to look into the town, "Oh. Yeah. We might want to do something about that." She was referring to a large mob of Toads that had organized on Main Street that was now headed towards them.

"I'll take 'em," said Kendall, readying his powers. Mario put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up.

"No, we'll take this one," said Mario, "You saved Jonathan. Now it's our turn. You take everyone else and get out of here." Kendall took a few moments to reply. He had half-expected when he saw Mario and Luigi that they would yell at him for what he had accidentally done to them in their world. But instead, they were trusting him to lead an entire population out of town.

"Alright," said Kendall.

"Take Jonathan," said Mario setting the Toad on the ground, "If possible, we'll catch up later." Kendall nodded.

"I'll translate for you," said Kayla, "If you need it."

"I think I will," said Kendall.

"Good," said Mario, "Come on Luigi. You have the fire flowers we recovered right?" Luigi held them up.

"How could I not?" he asked, "I'm kind of paranoid."

"Good luck guys," said Mario, giving Kendall a thumbs up. The Mario Brothers squeezed their flowers, powered up, and ran towards the mob. Kendall watched for a few seconds and then spoke.

"The west gate is always the least guarded!" Kendall called, "Follow me."

"Ha rellsa letfas si valora gauren'nia nilla!" Kayla translated, "Alin'maba!"

"That is too cool," said Kendall as the group started to move, "Where'd you learn?"

"I'll tell you when we're in less danger," said Kayla, "I'm kind of freaked out right now. It's been one crazy experience after the next."

"Welcome to the life of an adventurer," said Kendall, putting a hand on her shoulder. Kayla cracked a smile. It turned into a look of worry quickly.

"I hope no one at the back…" Kendall interrupted her.

"They won't be taken," said Kendall, "That mob was pretty much the entire elite guard. Everyone else will be inside houses and such. All we have to hope for is that Mario and Luigi are able to hold all of them off…"

"They're the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom," said Kayla reassuringly, "I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Yeah!" Jonathan exclaimed, butting in, "They scared the Shades out of Toad Town! It was awesome…"

"Really?" said Kendall, "Why don't you tell us all about it?" So Jonathan began to tell the story. For whatever reason, it eased Kendall's worries.

* * *

Mario and Luigi had blasted through about half of the mob of Toads when it started to get hard. The Toads were adapting to their fire-dealing strategies. They began to form into different formations so as to avoid the fireballs flying at them.

With about fifty Toads left, Mario and Luigi realized that they weren't going to be able to beat all of these Toads. The Toads would stand back up just as fast as they were defeated. They could only stall long enough for Kendall to get the freed prisoners out of the town. They began to run the Toads away from the direction they had seen Kendall go, which was west. By doing this, they discovered an easier way to pick them off; their battling wasn't quite as effective while they were moving. Mario and Luigi burned through another thirty of the Toads. Down to the last twenty, they were able to start going hand to hand. At this point, however, Toads that had already been defeated began to show up again. Mario and Luigi were forced to move again.

Finally, the Mario Brothers managed to lose the entire Toad force in the streets of their own town. They now stood atop a rooftop, lying down so that they could not be seen standing up. Any Toads that passed below and looked up could not tell that they were there. Since they had already used the rooftops earlier in the battle, the Toads weren't yelling, "Check the rooftops," or anything of the sort. They obviously figured that the Mario Brothers weren't stupid enough to use the same trick twice.

"I think we're safe…" said Mario, "Mamma Mia… this is a mess."

"You're telling me… aiaiai…" Luigi said, holding his head.

"Well, well, well," a voice said from behind them. Both of the Mario Brothers rolled over and jumped to their feet. Then they almost stepped backwards off of the roof. Facing them were literal clones of themselves.

"Our mirrors…" Mario said breathlessly.

"It appears the myth that states that there is another, backwards world is true," said the red-clothed Luigi clone, "That clearly means that these fools are nothing compared to us."

"Very true Luigi," said the green-clothed Mario, "Shall we… show them our superiority?"

"Yes," said the mirror Luigi as they both pulled out Ice Flowers, "Yes we should." Mario and Luigi got their fireballs ready. As their mirrors powered up, balls of glowing ice appeared in their hands. Then both sides charged.

* * *

The editor-in-chief waited anxiously for the princess to come out onto the platform in Toad Town square. He had his notepad ready and everything. All of the young reporters working under the editor-in-chief were working on the big story about the shadowy creature things. He hadn't heard back from any of them. He was the only one left to cover this. Toadsworth came out on the platform studiously.

"I present to you Princess Peach!" he stated. There was wild clapping and cheering as Princess Peach took the stand on the platform. She hooked a piece of paper in and began to speak. The editor-in-chief took some notes and then began to doze off. He was jolted awake by the sound of what he thought was shuffling. The sound came just in time for Princess Peach to say, "… the article that you might have read in a recent edition of the Mushroom Daily contained false information by blaming the Mario Brothers for burning down a forest. The forest is indeed intact and the firefighting organization nearby, the Wiggler Water Rushers, has confirmed that it was accidental."

The editor-in-chief recognized the story description immediately. He also realized that it was his fault that the princess was giving this speech. He was about to stand up and apologize for everything, but as he stood, he was suddenly pulled off of his feet. He screamed but was then muffled. Then he was knocked out.

* * *

Toadbert burst out of the library and breathed in fresh air. He slammed the doors behind him and ran down the street to the coffee shop. He proceeded to break down the door, trigger the alarm, and dive directly into the pastries. He didn't care that the alarm was blaring around him. All he cared about now was food. He had finished organizing the library the second he woke up, slamming the last book into place. Nothing was stopping him. He didn't care anymore.

After he had downed twelve muffins, two donuts, and two cups of coffee, he heard screams outside over the alarm.

"That's funny. Who would be screaming right now? Who would be outside right now? What's going on out there?" the hyperactive Toadbert mulled, "I should go check it out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to go check it out." He rushed out of the blaring coffee shop at top speed and began running in the direction of the screams at top speed. Hyperactive thoughts rushed through his head, wondering what was going on. He had considered about fifty reasons that people might be screaming outside by the time he reached where the screams were coming from. When he got there, he ran himself into a tree. When he had recovered from that (in about two seconds), he rushed into the square. His jaw dropped.

Above him was a huge purple portal that shadowed the entire square. Shades crawled around everywhere, taking people and disappearing into the portal. At the head of the square, Princess Peach backed away from a black Yoshi. Toadsworth was nowhere to be seen. The Yoshi grabbed Princess Peach with her tongue and pulled her in, grabbing the princess by the arm.

"Heed my words!" she yelled, "Those of you who escape… your time is coming. You will not stand a chance now that your princess has been captured! Wait for the day that we will capture you as well. It will come." With that, she looked up to the portal and disappeared into it with the princess. The last Shade hopped up onto the platform and raised its arms to the portal. It disappeared into the portal and then the portal disappeared itself.

Toadbert's head swiveled around quickly. The only ones left were a few Toads who had managed to find hiding places. Toadbert couldn't believe what he had just witnessed, nor did he have time. Toadbert's drive suddenly crashed, and he fell over and fainted.

* * *

**A/N: Longest chapter of fanfiction that I have ever written. Ever. So much happened in this chapter. Kendall came up with the worst plan ever but managed to rescue Jonathan. Mario, Luigi, and Kayla (Who speaks Shroobian!) lead a prison break. We were promised a fight between Mario and Luigi and their mirrors. And Princess Peach was kidnapped. Dun, dun, duuuuuunnnn! The big questions: Will Mario and Luigi win? Will Kendall lead everyone out of Peach's capitol safely? And what will Toadbert do now? **


	13. Fire, Ice, and Sewers

Chapter 13: Fire, Ice, and Sewers

The first collision of power exploded anime-style. Smoke filled the air. The Mirror Mario Brothers wasted no time on their next attack. They began pouring ice and snow from one of each of their hands and grabbed each other's other hand. They began to spin and a tornado of ice began to form. Mario front-flipped onto Luigi's hands and they curled up into a ball. They set themselves on fire and began to spin. As the ice tornado got closer, they flew straight forward. Another collision occurred. Mario was knocked into the air from the collision while Luigi skidded back along the roof. The mirror Mario Brothers back-flipped and landed on their feet.

The Mirror Mario Brothers immediately put all four hands together and started a blizzard headed directly at Mario. Luigi jumped to his feet and then jumped into the air, grabbed Mario by the legs, swung him around, and threw him directly at the blizzard. Mario enveloped himself in flame and flew through the blizzard. The Mirror Mario Brothers dodged Mario meteorite and the snow and ice fell on the rooftop. Mario crashed through the roof and then through the wall of the house they were fighting on top of.

Luigi landed on the roof to find himself facing both of the Mirror Mario Brothers. Their arms were swirling with icy energy. They started to run at him. Luigi, panicking, summoned two fireballs and threw them at the Mirror Mario Brothers. Said Mario Brothers jumped and ducked past the fireballs and prepared to swing their arms at him. Then they were suddenly shadowed by someone in the light of the streetlamps. They turned around and were met with a massive fireball. Luigi jumped out of the way as they were thrown down to the roof.

As Luigi landed on the other side of the knocked down Mirror Mario Brothers, Mario as well landed on the roof in front of the hole he had created. Luigi ran over to Mario.

"We have to find Kendall," said Mario, "And get out of here."

"Right," said Luigi, "Let's hope they haven't been caught."

"Leaving so soon?" a voice asked. They turned back. The Mirror Mario Brothers were walking towards them as though nothing had happened.

"It appears they are just as strong as us Luigi," said Mirror Mario.

"Yes," said Mirror Luigi. Their power-ups had not gone away, to the amazement of our heroes. The Mirror Mario Brothers were already readying their next icy attack.

"They're not going down easily," said Mario, preparing a fireball, "Let's go all out." Luigi nodded. Both sides charged again. Luigi, his foot on fire, kicked at his mirror. Their attacks cancelled each other out. Mario slammed his fireball into his mirror's center. Mirror Mario rolled backwards and landed on his feet. Luigi lit his hands on fire and began a close range fire and ice battle with his opponent. His fire punches was blocked by his mirror's ice blocks and vice versa. His foot met his mirror's hand. He was flipped and landed on his feet. He proceeded to throw a fireball. His mirror ducked it and tried to freeze his feet to the ground. Luigi had a wall of fire up to stop the attack before it even got halfway.

Mario was attempting to take down his mirror from a distance. Fire flew and collided with ice. His mirror was more successful at getting ice at the foot level. Mario slipped and nearly fell of the roof. He threw fire at the ice at his feet. The roof was set on fire and the ice melted. Subsequently, the whole house caught fire. They continued to fight. Mario threw fire. His mirror shot it out of the air with an ice ball. Then his mirror tried to bring it in close. Their arms crossed and then Mario caught a punch. His mirror tried to freeze his hand, but Mario set it on fire just as fast. His mirror stepped back and tried to charge at him with a head butt. Mario sidestepped and his mirror almost tumbled into the fire that was quickly spreading. His mirror balanced out quickly and charged at him again. Mario, jumped, spun, and kicked him in the head. He fell to the roof. To Mario's surprise, he got back up.

"How are you able to…"

"Keep my power-up?" Mirror Mario sneered, "It's a little thing called genetic engineering." He ran at Mario again. A single thought brushed through Mario's mind.

"_To the flower or them?_" he thought as he blocked his mirror's kick.

Luigi, in the meantime, was tiring fast, while his mirror seemed to be at full strength. Luigi dodged a series of ice filled punches from his mirror, stepping back quickly as he did. His mirror then threw an ice ball at him. He caught it with a hand of fire and crushed it in his hand. He ran to kick his mirror but his mirror jumped over him. He almost found himself on the receiving end of a snow attack, but Mario happened to be throwing a fireball at his mirror across the roof. Mirror Mario dodged the fireball and the roof caught fire in another location.

It was at this point that Luigi and Mirror Luigi happened to notice that the roof was on fire. The fire was quickly burning up the roof. The Mirror Mario Brothers met up away from the flames and the Mario Brothers did the same on the opposite end of the roof.

"Is this going to become a thing?" Luigi asked Mario, "Setting everything on fire?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that physics exists," Mario defended. The fire jumped at them. They immediately moved away from it.

"Let's focus," said Mario, readying another fireball, "The one who looks like me said something about genetic engineering…"

"Hey, where'd they go?" Luigi asked, pointing over to where they had met up. Mario looked up and then grabbed Luigi's arm, beginning to run like a madman. Luigi was dragged along the roof. When he saw what Mario had seen, his eyes went wide. The Mirror Mario Brothers were about to unleash a gale of ice and snow upon them. He freed himself from Mario's grip and began running himself. He passed Mario and jumped to the roof across the street. Mario did the same, but he fell slightly short. Luigi grabbed his arm and pulled him up. They watched as the Mirror Mario Brothers froze the roof of the house, effectively putting out the fire and sealing the hole in the roof. They landed on the roof and glared over at the Mario Brothers and began to skate over to the edge of the roof so as to jump over. They both bent their knees at the same time and flew into the air.

Mario and Luigi watched in amazement. The Mirror Mario Brothers flew over their heads and landed on the other side of the roof with no problems at all. They didn't even seem as though they had broken anything.

"Now you see," said Mirror Mario, "We are greater than you."

"You cannot amount to what we are," said Mirror Luigi, "Super soldiers. The invincible bodyguards of Princess Peach." Mario and Luigi couldn't say anything for a few seconds. Luigi was the first to speak.

"This world is messed up," he said. Mario's eyes lit up.

"Yeah it is," he said, almost cockily, "I mean, you two are super soldiers? Have you ever defeated your nemesis before?" Mirror Mario and Luigi just looked at each other.

"Well… no," said Mirror Mario, "We've never actually… seen him."

"He sends little scumbags to do his dirty work," Mirror Luigi intervened, "He's a horrible living creature."

"And you haven't even defeated those 'scumbags'?" Mario asked, taunting in his voice.

"Mario, what are you doing?" Luigi whispered.

"It's working Luigi," Mario whispered, "Be quiet."

"Well… there are a lot of them!" Mirror Mario exclaimed.

"Yeah!" said Mirror Luigi in agreement.

"And you still can't beat them…" said Mario, "That's disappointing. I mean, really. You call yourself super soldiers and you can't even beat a bunch of measly Koopas… I'll tell you what. We've beaten hundreds and hundreds of those nasty things in our time and we don't have any enhancement. You guys have nothing on us."

"Well…" Mirror Mario was sweating a little.

"You just shut up!" Mirror Luigi yelled, "Come on Mario! Let's finish the job and give these prison breakers a lesson!" Mirror Mario immediately got back into position. They jumped nearly thirty feet in the air and started charging ice above their heads.

"Mario…" Luigi said nervously.

"Calm down," said Mario, "Follow my lead." He led Luigi to the center of the roof and had him place his palm there. Mario placed his palm on top of his brothers.

"Mario…"

"Just charge as much fire energy you can into this one spot," said Mario. Both of them did so. As soon as they had both stood up, they heard a yell from above.

"Time's up!" both Mirror Mario Brothers yelled, "Now freeze!" A blizzard of ice and snow flew downwards at the Mario Brothers.

"Now get off of the roof!" Mario yelled. Luigi nodded and immediately started running. Mario did the same. He jumped down into the street. The blizzard struck the roof and froze it solid. Mario looked through the window of the house. As he had seen when he had jumped to that particular roof before, there was a window and he could see Luigi on the other side. Luigi was looking at him. Mario looked at the roof briefly. The Mirror Mario Brothers clearly had not seen them jump off of the roof through the blizzard. They had landed and were now looking around. Mario nodded to Luigi and raised his hand in a snapping position. Luigi followed his lead. They both snapped at the same time. A pillar of fire suddenly blew skyward from the roof. Mario nodded to Luigi to run and they both started running.

The Mirror Mario Brothers were now yelling after them. Mario could see them jumping roofs out of the corner of his eye to follow them. Mario ducked into the next alleyway he could find. He pulled Luigi in with him when his brother passed. They crouched against the wall. The Mirror Mario Brothers, clearly scorched to black, flew over them. Luigi breathed a sigh of relief.

"We lost them," he said.

"Not necessarily," said Mario, "We still have to get out of town. And chances are those Toads will be looking for Kendall and the group he's with. If they see us…"

"So we're stuck?" Luigi asked fearfully.

"Unless we fight our way out," said Mario, readying another fireball, "There's no way we're actually going to beat them, but we can escape… and buy Kendall some more time." Mario stood up and got ready to throw the fireball in the air.

"Are you crazy!?" Luigi almost screamed. He pulled Mario back down. Mario gave him an annoyed look.

"Mamma Mia Luigi…" said Mario, "Calm down. I know what I'm doing." He pushed Luigi off and threw the fireball into the air. It exploded. Mario motioned for Luigi to follow him. They ran out of the alleyway and went the opposite direction that they had been going. As Mario had expected, he heard Mirror Luigi yelling, "They're headed that way!"

They ran for about three minutes before the Mirror Mario Brothers caught up to them. They were one turn away from the north gate. The Mirror Mario Brothers jumped down from the rooftops and blocked their path. Ice was already forming in their hands. Their clothing was scorched and their moustaches and hair were now lopsided as parts had been burnt off.

"You'll pay for making fools out of us," said Mirror Mario angrily.

"Impeccable logic, Mario," Luigi whispered, clearly annoyed.

"Just wait, Luigi," said Mario as the Mirror Mario Brothers drew closer. Suddenly, they charged.

"Now!" Mario yelled. He jumped and Luigi followed. A flurry of ice and snow shot down the street. By the time the Mirror Mario Brothers had turned around, Mario and Luigi had already left a wall of fire for them. They immediately jumped it, but when they turned the corner, they saw Mario and Luigi charging more fire.

"Now your time is up!" Mario yelled. They unleashed their waves of fire. Mirror Mario and Luigi braced themselves. The fire never made impact. Mario and Luigi looked on in shock. Mirror Peach now stood in front of them, a force-field surrounding them. She lowered her scepter and the force-field disappeared.

"Impressive," she said, "You have strong wits. Stronger than even the strength of my best men. It is a shame that you are not on my side… perhaps..."

"No thanks," said Mario, "I looked up fascism."

"With what?" Luigi interrupted.

"My smartphone," said Mario, pulling it out of his overalls, "Duh."

"Wha… where…" Luigi held his head. The world was making less sense by the second.

"Anyway," said Mario, stowing the phone in his overalls, "Sorry, but I don't like the way you think."

"Well then…" said Mirror Peach, "Since you will not join me… you must be… destroyed…" She raised her staff again and a dark purple light began to form at the tip. She pointed it at the Mario Brothers. They got their fireballs ready. Then she retracted her scepter.

"Eventually," she said, finishing her prior statement, "Come. Mario. Luigi. My Mario and Luigi. We have that cursed Koopa to find. If we dwell any longer with these fools…" She gave them a nasty look and then began to walk away in the opposite direction. The Mirror Mario Brothers in all of their scorchedness glared at Mario and Luigi angrily before following their princess. Mario and Luigi looked at each other before running out the gate.

* * *

Kendall had retracted into his shell to sleep. He hadn't gotten much of it since he was sleeping on a hard concrete floor in a smelly, confined area. That's right: he had gotten the entire group into a sewer. And that was where they were currently hiding. It had been Aflred's idea. He had told Kayla about two minutes after they had started walking that they wouldn't all be safe out in the open. The group was just too big. So they jumped into the sewers. It was working to say the least. No one but Kendall seemed to mind the smell and no one was going to find them any time soon.

As Kendall shuddered in his shell from the scent for the umpteenth time, he heard talking from somewhere down the sewer hall. He got up out of his shell and stretched out what sleep he had gotten. He walked past Jonathan and looked down at the kid with a smile. While he hadn't seen Jonathan use Resourcery yet, he believed that the young Toad could do it. It made him happy to know that he wasn't the only one left.

He peeked around the corner as he came to it and saw Kayla talking to Alfred. They sat against the wall. He couldn't understand a word of what they were saying, but he listened anyways.

"Ig hersa gia brat'sa ven bint'tella ha da sar resd'san," Alfred said.

"Etsara si abnoha," said Kayla.

"Ka," said Alfred, "Aick mins'loy sar lan cor'la." Kendall walked around the corner. They both looked over at him.

"Hey…" said Kayla. Kendall walked over awkwardly.

"Mind if I join?" he asked, "I can't sleep." He choked on the scent again. Kayla looked at Alfred.

"Resd'sa com'niad?" she asked. Alfred nodded.

"I try to speak English," he said, somewhat slowly.

"Resd'soy via'ead," said Kayla. Alfred shook his head.

"I want to… eh… pr… ac… tice," he said, "The Mario Brothers teaching me little." Kendall nodded and then sat down.

"He was basically telling about what happened to him," said Kayla, "Turns out the princess in this world is his little sister. She imprisoned him the second she could talk for reasons he can't explain." Kendall just stared at Alfred.

"She has an older brother?" Kendall asked in disbelief. Kayla nodded.

"Don't… know why," said Alfred, shrugging his shoulders, "Or… how?" Kayla nodded. Alfred smiled to himself.

"You've had a hard life then huh?" said Kendall to Alfred. Alfred looked at him in confusion.

"Little… slower please?" he said. Kendall repeated what he had said more slowly. Alfred thought for a second and nodded.

"Yes," he said, "Ka."

"'Ka' is 'yes'?" Kendall questioned. Both Alfred and Kayla nodded.

"Hey, that's right," said Kendall, "Where did you learn Shroobian?" Kayla sighed.

"Well, I told Alfred," said Kayla, "You might as well know too. I might cry, just as a fair warning."

Kendall nodded.

"I understand," said Kendall.

"My mom was the head reporter on a story from many years ago, before I was born, called the Shroobian Invasion on the Mushroom Kingdom. The Shroobs came and attacked the Mushroom Kingdom, which is my world. She was heavily involved in close up action with the story. She even told me she was turned into a mushroom at one point. When that whole ordeal was over and the Mario Brothers had fixed everything, she wrote a book on her experience. Following that… she became obsessed.

"My mother pretty much disappeared from society for a few months. When she came back, she was speaking the language of the Shroobs fluently and knew almost everything about their existence. My father was obsessed with the whole shebang as well. They were married a few months after she came back. I was born about year later."

Kayla started to shed a few tears.

"My whole childhood was learning about Shroobs. My parents almost never spoke English to me. I had to learn English in school. They deprived me of my childhood to make sure I knew everything they knew about Shroobs. I ran away from home eventually. I thought they were crazy. They always said that Shroobs still existed somewhere and that I needed to be ready for them when they came… but I didn't believe them.

"I felt bad for what I had done, so I went to school for Journalism so my mother could see that I still loved her… but then I got word that they had died in a mysterious fire…"

She wiped some tears away from her face.

"Until this day, I've buried that regret. I had forgotten everything they taught me. I only spoke the language when I was overly scared…"

"Like earlier," said Kendall. Kayla nodded.

"Mi sita tempr'tad," she said, "I am scared. But now…" She wiped away more tears. Kendall put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him.

"… now that I have seen that what they taught me means something… that it actually has a purpose… it hurts even more…"

More tears flowed. Her head fell on Kendall's chest as she began to cry harder. Alfred watched awkwardly.

"Should… I leave?" he asked tentatively.

"Just for a minute," said Kendall, raising one finger. Alfred nodded, stood up, and left. Kendall pulled Kayla closer.

"Kayla," he said, "Your parents would be very proud of you for what you are doing. Me… well… I think about my parents all the time… and sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough. Like they never deserved me. I'm hardly my father. He was a Resourcerer beyond what you can believe. I don't think I'll ever live up to him. But I always keep trying. And you know what? I never wanted to be a Resourcerer in the first place. But now it has become something that I can use for good. Just like your knowledge of the Shroobian language. So long as you're using that for a good cause, there's no reason to think for a second that your parents wouldn't be proud."

Kayla wrapped her arms around him. Her eyes were closed and tears were streaming down her cheeks. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close.

"_She just needs time_," he thought to himself, "_Time to sort out her thoughts_." He shut his eyes and tried to go to sleep. The smell had disappeared from his nostrils for some reason. Eventually, he drifted off.

* * *

Toadbert woke up with a migraine from the coffee.

"Ooh…" he moaned, "My head."

"Hey!" someone yelled, "He's awake!" Toadbert held his head in pain. The loud noises weren't helping him any. Three Toads ran up to his bedside. He was barely able to turn his head. There were two boys and one girl. The two boys were dressed in ordinary clothes and had ordinary palettes. The girl had yellow palette and wore yellow clothing.

"Be quiet," said the female Toad, "He's got a headache. How are you feeling?"

"My head just got hit by a train…" Toadbert moaned.

"What did you do to it?" the female asked.

"Well," said Toadbert, "I drank two cups of coffee."

"That'll do it," said the female, "You've been out for a couple hours. We found you by the square. Did you get to see that spectacle?" Toadbert didn't feel like trying to remember. His head was already hurting enough.

"They took just about everyone," said one of the boys, "It was pretty frightening. But you know what that means?"

"No adults!" the other Toad exclaimed. That was enough to make Toadbert hold his head in pain again.

"Geez you two!" the female Toad yelled, "He's got a headache!" Toadbert held his head harder.

"You're not helping much either…" he groaned.

"They took the princess though," said the other boy, ignoring Toadbert's comments, "That's kind of bad…" Toadbert suddenly shot up, his headache disappearing in realization.

"Oh my gosh…" he said, "They took the princess!"

"Uh… yeah," said the boy, "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"They took the princess!" Toadbert exclaimed again, "Oh man… I have to find the Mario Brothers!" He jumped out of the bed and ran for the door.

"Hey, wait!" the female Toad yelled. Toadbert turned around.

"What?" Toadbert asked hastily, "This is bad!"

"The Mario Brothers went back through the mirror last night," said the girl, "Or so I heard…"

"Wait, back through the mirror?" Toadbert asked, "When did they get back here?"

"Yesterday," said one of the boys, "Where have you been?" Toadbert sulked.

"Imprisoned in a library by my OCD," he said grimly, "Great. So now what do I do? The Mario Brothers are on the other side of the mirror… the princess is kidnapped…"

"Why don't you figure something out instead of just standing here?" asked the other boy, "Aren't you, like, the genius of this town?" Toadbert started thinking again. He suddenly recalled what he had read in the prophecy book.

"Grand Stars…" he said to himself. The prophecy book had said that there were six Grand Stars held by six special people across two worlds. They would open the portal to the dimension of doom, where the shadowy creatures, which were, according to the prophecy book, called Shades, were based. Something clicked in his mind. He knew what he had to do.

"Well if the Mario Brothers aren't around, then I'll just have to find them myself!" he exclaimed, "Shouldn't be that difficult…"

"Find what?" one of the boys asked.

"You kids be careful!" Toadbert exclaimed as he opened the door, "Stay away from mirrors! And thanks!" He slammed the door behind him. The kids just looked between each other in confusion.

* * *

**A/N: And yet another chapter has passed! We've seen the Mario Brothers duke it out with the Mirror Mario Brothers. We've learned a little about Alfred and ever more about Kayla and Kendall. And we've seen Toadbert make his decision to become a little bit more of an integral part of the plot! What will the Mario Brothers do now? Has Kendall really lead those he is leading out of the grip of the fascist Princess Peach? And what will happen to Toadbert? **

**Before anyone can say anything, I know two cups of coffee probably isn't enough to cause a migraine, but we're just going to say that Toadbert drank coffee without thinking. Otherwise, just say this: "Screw logic! Mario has a smartphone!" **


	14. Opposites Attract

Chapter 14: Opposites Attract

"They couldn't have gotten far…"

Mario put his hand up to shade his eyes again as he again scanned the landscape below the hill they were on. The group Kendall was leading was nowhere in sight.

"You'd think they'd be easy to find," said Luigi, arms crossed, "There were at least five hundred Shroobs in that prison."

"I hope they didn't get caught…" said Mario looking over to him, "Though we can't seem to find them. I guess that's a good thing. Those guys didn't have wits for anything. And if we can't find them…"

"Yep," said Luigi, "What were you saying about genetic engineering earlier?"

"My mirror said something about them being genetically engineered," said Mario, "I don't get it. They seemed perfectly normal. Except that their power-ups weren't going away."

"Yeah," said Luigi, "Doesn't really matter to us I guess. We pummeled them and outsmarted them." Mario nodded with a smile.

"So much for them being super soldiers," Mario said. He took another look down the hill and began to walk down the hill toward the east.

"Come on Luigi," said Mario, "We'll look somewhere else." Luigi nodded and began to follow. As they got halfway down the hill, someone cried out from the other side.

"GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Mario and Luigi both turned around. Then, suddenly, someone came barreling over the hill and into them. The three of them tumbled down the hill and rolled ten feet after they hit the bottom. Mario pushed the third person off of the two of them. He proceeded to reach towards his overalls before realizing that the person who had collided with them was a small spiky-shelled Koopaling.

"Junior!" Mario exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" Junior looked up at him and screamed.

"IT JUST WON'T STOP!" he screamed, falling on his back. Mario looked at him as though he was crazy. Then he looked up the hill and his eyes widened. A whole mass of Shades was stampeding toward them down the hill.

"Mamma Mia…" said Mario, "Never a dull moment."

Luigi was still struggling to get up.

"Mamma Mia…" said Luigi, dazed, "Is that you mama? You look… striking as usual…" Mario pulled his brother up to his feet and shook his shoulders a couple times.

"Come on Luigi," said Mario, "Time to run. Give me a hand with Junior."

"Wha…" He looked at the crying Koopaling on the ground nearby and then up the hill. He immediately froze in terror.

"Luigi!" Mario yelled, "Help me out!" Luigi unfroze and shook his head. When he was thinking straight again, he saw that Mario was trying to heft the Koopaling onto his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Shades charging at them down the hill at top speed.

"LUIGI!" Mario yelled. Luigi helped Junior onto Mario's back and then ran for his life. Mario as well started running, but was hindered by the Koopaling's weight.

"Hey kiddo!" Mario exclaimed through heavy breaths, "How fast can you run?" The Koopaling on his back didn't answer him. Mario tripped and the Koopaling fell off of his back. Mario jumped back up to his feet.

"Go!" Mario yelled to Junior, "Run!" The Koopaling flipped around and backed away from him in terror.

"Go!" Mario yelled again. The Shades were getting closer.

"You're letting me go?" Junior asked, eyes wide, "Why?"

"Just go!" Mario yelled. The Shades were right on top of them at this point. Junior got up and started running. Mario was briefly stunned. Junior was running at a speed that Mario never thought he would be able to run. He had almost caught up to Luigi within five seconds.

"_Must be adrenaline…_" Mario thought to himself. He was suddenly grabbed at the leg by a Shade. Another Shade secured his arms. He found himself pinned to the ground. Then he felt himself being lifted into the air by several Shades. They began to carry him back up the hill as more Shades ran past towards Luigi and Junior in the distance. Mario struggled, but too many Shades held him. He couldn't move.

"_This can't be it…_" he thought to himself, "_Come on Luigi! Come on!_"

Luigi almost ran himself into a rock but managed to trip as he ran past it instead. As he got up, he saw the Koopaling running towards him, several Shades following.

"Where's Mario!?" Luigi asked in panic.

"He tripped and I fell and I ran and… and… and…" the Koopaling couldn't say anything else. He just kept crying. Luigi's heart pounded as he watched the Shades come closer.

"_Mario's caught…_" he thought to himself, "_Mario is… is… is caught… Mario…_" His eyes suddenly burned with anger. His fist clenched at his side. He reached into his overalls and pulled out a jar that was labeled, "Emergency Only." He popped off the lid and out of it grew an enormous orange capped mushroom. He inhaled as hard as he could. The mushroom flew into his mouth and he swallowed it whole. It took effect immediately. He felt his body expanding. Within five seconds, he was fifty feet tall.

The Shades looked up at him in terror. He looked down at them with fiery eyes. He began to run across the plain he had been running across previously. He scooped up Shades as he went and threw them to the ground as hard as he could. Within five steps, he was back at the hill. He had stomped many Shades on the way and thrown several more to the ground. The Shades holding Mario dropped him and scrambled. Luigi reached down and grabbed them all up. He proceeded to throw them onto one of the many piles of Shades that had been created on the ground between the field of rocks and the hill. Luigi scooped up Mario in his hand and held his brother in his palm. Mario gave him a thumbs up. Luigi did the same with his other hand. Then, as a finishing touch, he quickly rolled all of the Shades, flattened and thrown, into a ball, and kicked it as hard as he could to the west.

After Luigi had shrunk down to his normal state, the Mario Brothers tried to talk to the petrified Koopaling that had been left over by the rock field. He stood there, frozen, not breaking his gaze toward the sky.

"I think he admires you Luigi," said Mario after a few failed attempts at getting him to talk, "He's starting to act like you in the face of danger."

"No," said Luigi, adjusting his hat, "He's acting like any other normal person would in the face of danger; scared to death." Junior twitched. Neither Mario Brother noticed.

"You know," said Mario, "Doesn't he usually have a paintbrush with him?"

"Yeah," said Luigi, "I mean, he did when we last saw him." Junior fell on his face.

"Ouch…" he said. Then he jumped to his feet again and backed into a rock.

"You two!" he yelled, trembling, "Don't make me shatter your bones!"

"Calm down kiddo," said Mario, "We're only trying to help. What was that all about?" Junior suddenly charged at them. He kicked Mario expertly. Mario was knocked five feet backwards. In the next second, Junior had that foot on the ground and punched Luigi in the face with one fist after the other. Luigi as well was knocked to the ground.

Junior got into a fighting position.

"Come at me!" he yelled, "I dare you!" Mario slowly got up, clutching his chest.

"Ouch…" he groaned, "What's gotten into you? Where'd you learn to do that?" Junior glared at him.

"Don't play dumb with me you oppressive jerk!" he yelled, "I know you're always after my papa! You're going to pay!" Mario suddenly realized what was going on.

"You're this world's Junior aren't you," said Mario. The Koopaling before them looked at him in confusion. Before Mario could explain further, his eyes lit up.

"Oh my gosh…" he said, "I'm so sorry. I… I was just scared. They just… came out of nowhere and it shook me up."

"Alright," said Mario with a sigh of relief, "Now that that mess is cleaned up…"

"Owwww…" Luigi ailed on the ground nearby. Mario rolled his eyes.

"Come on Luigi," said Mario, "He didn't hit you that hard."

"Uh… I might have," said Mirror Junior, "I am a black belt in karate."

"Really?" said Mario. Luigi got up and dusted himself off.

"Boy, if I had a nickel for every time you told me to come on…" said Luigi, "I'd be a billionaire." Mario ignored him.

"So what are you doing way out here?" Mario asked, "I'm assuming that your dad is a good guy around here right?"

"Yeah," said Mirror Junior, "He's the greatest king this land could ask for. I'm actually on a mission from him right now. But I took a break to find my partner. He got upset at something I said and just… ran off."

"Oh," said Luigi, "Who's your partner?"

"He's from your world," said Mirror Junior, "You might know him. He has the same name as me and we look exactly alike." Mario looked at Luigi.

"Junior is in this world," said Mario, a little surprised, "When did that happen?"

"He didn't show up with us by the volcano…" said Luigi.

"I found him near the lake a couple of days ago," said Mirror Junior, trying to be helpful.

"So he must have entered around the same time as us," said Mario, "I wonder… did the mirror suck him up too?"

"But then why didn't he show up where we did?" Luigi asked. Mario thought. Then his eyes lit up.

"Don't you dare say it," said Luigi before his brother could speak, holding a finger up to Mario's mouth.

"What?" Mario asked, "Plot-" Luigi slapped is hand over Mario's mouth, muffling the rest of the words.

"I swear," said Luigi, "I feel less and less secure every time he says it." Mirror Junior just looked on in confusion. Mario pushed Luigi away.

"Anyway," he said, "You're looking for Junior then?" Mirror Junior nodded.

"Great!" Mario exclaimed, "We'll help you out with that!"

"Really?" Mirror Junior said.

"Wait a minute Mario," said Luigi, "What about the rendezvous with Kendall?"

"Kendall?" Mirror Junior butted in, "You guys know him?"

"Yep," said Mario.

"He's so awesome isn't he?" Mirror Junior gushed, "I want to be just like him. An awesome bringer of justice who kicks bad guys' butts!"

As Mirror Junior began to go on about all of Kendall's accomplishments, Mario managed to silently convince Luigi (with help from Mirror Junior's talking) that Kendall could handle the group without them. As Mirror Junior winded down, the group began to walk in no particular direction to resume the search for Junior as a threesome.

* * *

A small caravan rolled through the jungle of the south silently. The light of the moon shimmered upon the golden carriage in its center. Inside that golden carriage sat none other than Mirror Peach alongside her bodyguards, Mirror Mario and Mirror Luigi. Mirror Peach had ordered that this caravan be sent out to find Kendall and arrest him, along with all of his companions and the jailbreakers he was leading. She had then decided that she wanted to see it done right, so she went with the caravan herself.

They sat in silence. The only sound made was the sound of the rolling wheels and the engines on the carriages' fronts.

Eventually, Mirror Luigi broke the silence.

"When shall we deploy the strike group?" he asked, "Soon I suppose."

"Yes indeed," said Mirror Peach, "Surely that Koopa will make his way back toward their capitol. We must catch them on the path. At this point we cannot handle a war. We must simply take steps to lead us to an advantage. Soon… soon however, the world will be ours."

"Wise words your highness," said Mirror Mario. Mirror Peach bowed her head and then looked up, her eyes glaring suddenly. She stood up and grabbed her scepter.

"Stop the caravan!" she yelled.

"Your highness…" said Mirror Mario. The caravan was immediately stopped.

"Your highness, what…"

"I sense something nearby," said Mirror Peach. The Mirror Mario Brothers helped her out of the carriage. Toads gathered around.

"Search the surrounding area," she said, "Someone is hiding in this vicinity. Find them and bring them here." All of the Toads saluted and bowed before running off.

"Shall we…" Mirror Luigi started.

"No, stay here," said Mirror Peach, "This person that I sense…" She raised her scepter for a few seconds and then brought it back down.

"… possesses a dangerous weapon." The Mirror Mario Brothers reached for their power-ups but Mirror Peach stopped them.

"No," said Mirror Peach, "We must not appear hostile." Two minutes later, the Toads returned holding a Koopaling by the arms. Another few were carrying a paintbrush.

"Let me go you fungus brains!" he yelled. The Toads threw him to the ground at Mirror Peach's feet. He looked up.

"Who the heck are you?" he asked indignantly, "Some goth Peach?" There were gasps from the Toads.

"He insulted the princess!" someone said breathlessly.

"He's gonna get it!" said someone else.

"If it isn't the prince of the kingdom," said Mirror Peach, poison in her voice, "What might you be…"

"Don't you dare mix me up with that jerkface!" the Koopaling yelled, "When I find my papa… oh what he'll do to all of you! He's gonna burn all of you to cinders! All of you mirror people! I'll make sure of it! You're all… all… all meanies!" He began to cry. Mirror Peach looked down at him in surprise. A new idea formulated in her head.

"Oh," she said, a little more kindly, "I'm sorry that your papa is missing. And did the prince of this land do something to you?" The Koopaling nodded and sniveled.

"Well, isn't that a coincidence!" said Mirror Peach, "He happens to be the son of our number one enemy. Perhaps if you were to help us, you could get a little revenge on him." The Koopaling looked up at her, tears still dripping. He didn't seem to give the Mirror Mario Brothers a second thought.

"You mean it?" he asked. Mirror Peach nodded. His hand shot out to hers.

"It's a deal!" he said drying his remaining tears, "Just give me my paintbrush back."

"Of course," said Peach, shaking his hand. She made a motion with her scepter and the Toads gave him his paintbrush back.

"You seem to know my name," said Mirror Peach, "What might yours be?"

"Junior," said the Koopaling, "Bowser Jr."

"I should have known," said Mirror Peach, "Especially since that filthy mirror of yours has the same name." Junior crossed his arms.

"I own the name better," he said, "So what are you planning?"

"Come along," said Mirror Peach, "I'll explain in the carriage." She waved her scepter again and everyone boarded the caravan again. Mirror Peach nodded to the Mirror Mario Brothers and they escorted her and Junior to the carriage. Once everyone had boarded, the caravan started to move again.

* * *

Peter walked into Shadias's throne room and shut the door behind him. A meeting had been called. It was rare for this to happen, and Peter had prepared for the worst. If a meeting had been called, all five Doom Children were around. Which meant Beki would be there. He shuddered as he located the small, blindfolded Toad playing by herself in one corner of the room. Kiara and Shelly stood in the opposite corner. Shadias sat in her throne uncomfortably, giving constant glances in Beki's direction.

As Peter walked to the center of the room, he gave a wary eye to the room around him. He didn't know how his father was planning on speaking. He had heard after he got back that he had appeared to Shadias in person. He truly hoped that it wouldn't happen again.

"Greetings my children!" his father's voice came out of nowhere. He jumped a little. Shadias sat up. Kiara and Shelly turned towards the center of the room. Beki was the only one who didn't turn around.

"So nice to see you all together," he said fuzzily, "It just makes me tingle on the inside."

"Could you please tell us why we're gathered here father?" Shadias asked, "Though I think we all know…"

"Of course you do!" their father exclaimed, "Kiara's mission was a success! Confetti!" Confetti and streamers burst from nowhere. Kiara blushed a little.

"Now then," said their father, "We have the princess. However, this is not enough to create the weapon we need to take over both worlds and then the entire multiverse. As you can well imagine, the magic of one person just isn't going to cut it. So we need to capture… another princess!" The Doom Children aside from Beki looked among each other.

"What princess are we talking here?" Peter asked.

"One who looks exactly like this one!" A cage suddenly appeared directly in front of him. Within it was a woman in a pink dress with blond hair. She was clinging to the bars.

"Where am I!?" she asked frantically.

"Oh don't fear my dear," said the father of the Doom Children, "You're merely in the place of your doom. Now please be quiet. Guests are not usually allowed in our meetings."

"Mario will come and rescue me!" the princess yelled, "I don't know who you are but…"

"Beki," said their father. Beki suddenly turned around. Peter took five quick steps away from her.

"Yes father?" she asked.

"Please take care of this for us," he said. Beki began to walk towards the princess, who merely stood and stared. Peter took an additional five steps back before falling on his bottom. Shelly and Kiara hugged each other tightly and shivered. Shadias just watched, sinking back into her chair.

"You're Princess Peach," said Beki in a low growl, "_Ruler_ of the Mushroom Kingdom. And yet all you do is bake cakes for that scumbag plumber who calls himself a hero. You let yourself get kidnapped. Let your so called 'hero' hurt himself, beat himself up trying to save you. One of these days he will stop coming for you. The pain will be too much. Perhaps it is this journey?"

"He'll never give up!" Peach exclaimed, "Mario wouldn't do that!"

"Are you sure?" Beki asked with a wicked smile, "Look deep within. There is doubt in your heart is there not? I sense it… It is there. You doubt your so called hero. He is nothing more than a plumber. There is nothing special about him. He needs items to do anything significant. What happens when he is out of those? Should he not just give up?"

"Mario can do plenty without his power-ups!" Peach exclaimed.

"You weak soul," Beki continued through gritted teeth, "What is in you that is worth saving? Why should Mario continue to save you? How do you even know he is coming at this moment? Is there even an absolute truth that says that? No. Your plumber is not coming for you. He isn't even looking for you right now. He is looking for your enemy so that he might gain favor with that enemy. He has lost sight of you. He doesn't even know you've been kidnapped. He hasn't given you a thought since he left to look for that Toad. And he didn't even tell _you_ he was leaving. He told your idiot adviser, whom we have also captured. What makes you think he will come for you? What are you worth? What does he care for you? Can you answer my questions? Can you even believe that he possibly cares about you? Can you?" Peach didn't have words.

"That's right," said Beki, "He isn't coming for you. You have no hope. You will rot here in this place. This place of darkness. This will be your grave. Your hope will shatter before the power of doom. Don't believe me? I'll show you."

Beki reached for her blindfold. Peter looked away in terror, even though the sight was burned into his mind. Even looking away, he could see it. It made his heart pound. He saw Kiara and Shelly looking away as well. He was sure Shadias was covering her eyes. There was a glass shattering scream. When Peter turned around a few seconds later, the princess had fallen unconscious in the cage. Beki's blindfold was back in its original place.

"Excellent!" said the voice of their father, "Now Shadias, please give us the fortune of our meeting." Shadias, who was clearly trembling, looked into her crystal ball shakily.

"I… I see a blue Toad with glasses walking," she said, "The words… they say he is looking for the Grand Stars."

"Hmm…" said the voice of their father, "I wonder how he knew about that? Peter?" Peter froze.

"Yes father?" he asked.

"Do you recognize this Toad?" his father asked. In spite of the fact that his father wasn't in the room. Peter could feel his father's eyes boring into him. Those horrible red eyes…

"Y-yes," he said, "H-he was the one with the p-prophecy book."

"Oh," said his father as though he hadn't known, "So you're saying he knows how to get into our realm? Well isn't that just wonderful. Beki." Peter fell onto his bottom trying to back away. Beki turned towards him.

"Please don't," he said desperately.

"Beki," said their father's voice, "I need you to go out and find this Toad. Then I need you to bring him here. Is that okay?"

"Of course father," said Beki with a smile, "I'll get on it right away." She proceeded to leave the room. Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

"Peter, the next time I give specific orders, please do follow them," said their father's voice, "Like right now. You and Kiara shall go to find the other princess. She is on the right side of the mirror. You do know your lefts and rights correct?" Peter nodded hastily.

"Good," said their father's voice, "Kiara, stick with Peter okay?" Kiara nodded.

"Remember, the other princess looks just like the one in the cage," said their father's voice, "Now, go forth." Peter nodded and he and Kiara met up at the door. Kiara looked at him with a longing stare but broke her gaze and led the way out of the room. Peter felt bad for what he knew. But he couldn't tell her. It would be too much for her to handle. He shut the door behind them. Then he followed Kiara down the hallway. Shades fell into line as they walked. They reached a room at the end of the corridor filled with giant mirrors. A huge machine stood in the center of the room. One Shade walked up to it and punched a few buttons. One of the giant mirrors flashed with a purple light and began rippling. The Shades saluted to Peter and Kiara and all of them proceeded into the mirror. Peter and Kiara silently followed.

* * *

**A/N: Mario and Luigi have met up with Mirror Bowser Jr. Mirror Peach has met up with Bowser Jr. And we've witnessed some of what Beki can do in full. What is to come as the Mario Brothers and Mirror Bowser Jr. find themselves looking for the bad guys? What happened to Kendall and his charge? And what did Beki do to Princess Peach? **


End file.
